What Lies Beyond
by Miss Link 87
Summary: "We give scarce consideration towards what lies beyond, but regardless, there are countless dimensions of the world we know, all co-existing, but never meant to intermingle." Post-TP. LinkxOC. New Chapter 6 finally! R&R!
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: Oh, you know the drill, I own nothing! Just playing in Nintendo's sandbox, that's all. However, the original characters in this fic were indeed created by me. My first Zelda fic. I am a relatively new Zelda fan (I know… I was apparently living under a rock all these years), but I'm learning quickly! So please enjoy. Comments always welcome. :]_

_This fic is dedicated to two of my best friends, TheOnyxHedgehog and Ginger Sheikah. Check out their stuff. :]_

* * *

**What Lies Beyond**

Prologue

Link of Ordon Village was comfortably leaning back against a wooden fence, watching the herd of goats graze in the pasture as he lazily stroked the long white mane of the mare in front him. It had been another typical day for the blonde, tending to the goats and to the ranch itself. After the deaths of Zant and Ganondorf almost a year ago, all of Castle Town had celebrated Link as the Hero of Light who rescued Hyrule once again, and they rewarded him with gifts and a feast. Link knew they were only honoring him and he appreciated it, but he tended to shy away from so much attention, and eventually grew a bit weary of constantly being called Hero instead of his own name being used. So Link returned home to Ordon Village and to the people that were the closest thing he had to a family. He even gave the Hero's Clothes a rest and kept them safely with a few of his other treasured belongings in his basement. He thought he was ready to slow down again. He thought he was all too eager to rest, and to fall back into his old routine from back in the day. And that was exactly what he did. But it grew old fast. Things _never_ changed here. Even in all the months that had passed since the battles, nothing ever changed here. After spending nearly a year trekking through all of Hyrule and fighting off Bulbins and Shadow Beasts on the way, he had realized that he had grown so used to the chaos and the action that peace and quiet was only making him restless. He missed adventure.

He glanced down at the triangular mark on the back of his left hand, remembering how long it had been since he even held a sword, let alone the Master Sword itself.

"I reckon we ain't got much time left before the sun decides to start goin' down," the man who had been leaning against the fence beside Link finally spoke. "How 'bout you and Epona help me herd these goats into the barn and then we call it a day?"

Link looked up at Fado and gave a bit of a smile and a nod in reply. Yes, it was definitely the same as always. The young Hero took in a deep breath and turned to pull himself up onto his mare's saddle.

* * *

He was fast. She had to admit that he was incredibly faster than the majority of opponents that she had faced before. Her knuckles were white from gripping her sword tightly in her left hand, her right arm looped through the straps of a shield that was currently acting as her lifesaver, and her ocean blue eyes locked onto her adversary. She was trying to memorize him and the way he moved and fought in order for her to calculate the perfect counterattack that would end this once and for all. This had gone on long enough. He had done enough damage.

But he was fast. And he was too unpredictable.

She gritted her teeth as she dodged another attack. It barely grazed her shoulder, tearing away at her maroon tunic, leaving a dull burning sensation behind. She just wished he would come down and fight on solid ground.

He was using dark magic. In fact, dark magic was _all_ he was using and he had suspended himself in mid-air, attacking her from above as he wielded a sword composed of what she described as black and purple flames; it was a sword made of dark magic. He had no interest in physical combat, though, which of course was her expertise. It put her at a disadvantage, but she refused to admit it and she wouldn't let it be the cause of her downfall. No, she couldn't let that happen. The entire kingdom depended on it.

A rush of black and silver dashed past her and a horse's shrill whinny broke out into the curt evening atmosphere. A young man's determined yell intermingled with the cry of his stallion as the majestic black creature carried him into the air towards the dark sorcerer, his own sword of steel held high over his head, ready to strike. But she could see what her companion couldn't: she saw the sorcerer smirk and she saw him incant a spell, his beady black eyes fixed upon the man and the steed as they came hurtling towards him.

"No!" the word escaped her lips without her permission.

The force of his incantation drove her companion and the steed back down into the hard, unforgiving ground of the field. The stallion let out another angry whinny as it rolled through the long grass, flinging its rider from the saddle. She glanced back in horror to see what had become of her mate and her horse, searching out their forms in the brush.

And that alone was the cause of her downfall.

She should have seen him target her, but he made his move the moment her eyes left his. Instead she only saw a blanket of darkness envelop her, as if someone had turned off the sun. And she only felt his flaming sword pierce her from behind and pass straight through her body, although there was no physical pain. She dimly registered her fingers relinquishing their grasp on her own sword as her insides turned cold, darkness gripping her heart as the air around her began to twist and bend. It felt like time had nearly stood still as she crumpled to the ground, her hands barely rescuing her face from meeting the dirt. But then something came into contact with the back of her head, and she felt like she was falling as the darkness finally claimed her mind.


	2. Chapter 1

**What Lies Beyond**

Chapter 1

Link heaved a long sigh as he finally arrived home, climbing off of Epona at the bottom of the ladder that led up to his front door. Another full day of work at the ranch done. He felt like he should be more tired than he was, he decided, as he raised his arms over his head to stretch his muscles out from riding. But he suspected that all of his time spent fighting and journeying had conditioned him for harder labor than what he was doing these days. Playing with the children, working as a ranch-hand and making the occasional trip to Castle Town for various errands on behalf of Mayor Bo never took much out of him anymore.

Epona nickered softly to him, gently nuzzling his soft blonde hair. He chuckled, petting the side of her face and running his fingers through her mane. "Good night, Epona," he said to her, although the sun hadn't begun setting quite yet.

He swiftly made his way up the ladder just as he did every day, but what made today different from all the other days and months that had passed him by was the letter that was pinned to his front door. Pausing, he examined it for a moment before taking it down. His name was written in elegant handwriting on the front of the envelope, but what made his heart jump in his throat was the crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule beside it. It was a dead giveaway to who the letter was from, and that was what perplexed him. Princess Zelda had never contacted him this way before; he couldn't decipher the nature of her reason to call to him and it slightly bothered him. He made his way inside and took off his sandals, leaving them beside the door, before he sat down and finally opened the envelope.

_Link,_

_You will be receiving this letter only a few hours after I have written it – I sent a messenger to personally deliver it to ensure its arrival would be as quick as possible.  
__I am writing to you because I would like to share a bit of an urgent matter with you, and request your help in this matter. For the past two hours, I have been sensing a very large disturbance within the area of the Faron Woods. At first it was so strong it nearly took my breath away. It has dulled now, but I have not felt anything like this in so long, and it is troubling me enough now that I do not feel comfortable ignoring it. I ask that you might be able to investigate these Woods for me and either confirm or deny my suspicions. This is a task that I did not feel I could trust with anyone other than Hyrule's own Chosen Hero. I know issues such as this are not foreign to you, unlike any Hyrulean Soldier.  
__I ask you to make your journey before dark falls tonight, for I am afraid to let this matter go unattended through the night. If you find something, I will expect you to report your findings to me before midnight. Otherwise, I will trust your judgment that what you find does not demand immediate attention and I will expect to see you in the morning. __Please keep your quest to yourself. I do not want to alarm the people of Hyrule until we know whether there is any real threat or not. And please take precautions. Do not go unarmed. The Master Sword awaits your arrival.  
__Thank you, Link. I am eternally grateful for your service to Hyrule._

_Princess Zelda_

Link's heart was pounding as he glanced over the letter a second time, his mind running wild. He knew how worried Princess Zelda had to be to ask for his help like this, not to mention her request for his use of the Master Sword. She needed his help and perhaps he was a bit too anxious to oblige. On any other evening he would be contemplating dinner right about now, but any thought of food was abandoned now as he headed towards the basement to prepare for a journey instead. Having to retrieve the Master Sword before venturing into the Faron Woods gave him quite an expedition to make before the sun set. He had to start now.

* * *

Link drew Epona to a halt as they approached the bridge that connected the Ordon Woods to the Faron Woods. It had honestly been quite a while since he had been here. He had never found reason to come back here after the end of the battle with twilight, especially since he chose to stay away for the sake of the Ordon children, namely Talo and Malo, whose father had forbidden them from entering Faron Woods because it was too dangerous. Talo in particular had always looked up to Link, and often mimicked the blonde's interests and actions, so he had chosen to set an example by teaching Talo to avoid the Faron Woods at all cost. He actually had been worried about the children when he emerged from his house, clad in the Hero's green tunic for the first time in months. Princess Zelda's letter had plainly instructed him to be silent about his journey to investigate the Woods, and he knew the children would insist on knowing where he was going dressed the way he was and why. Ilia would probably fuss about him taking Epona on another adventure, Talo would probably try to convince him to bring him along, and none of them would leave him alone until they knew every shred of information about his evening's plans. He couldn't have picked a more opportune time to leave when there was no one to greet him outside his home, nor did anyone pass by when he mounted Epona, who had been surprised to see her master return to her so soon after he had gone inside. He spoke to no one about his departure as he rode his mare swiftly through the village, but this wasn't exactly unusual to the people for him to leave without warning, and so they let him go.

Epona grunted and swung her head back towards him, pulling him out of his musings and urging him to go on. Link shook his head to clear his mind. He surveyed the outside of the Faron Woods, furrowing his brow. It sure did look normal from here at least, he thought, remembering how distressed Princess Zelda sounded in her letter. But he shrugged it off and nudged Epona's sides with his boots to move forward in a steady canter.

The Woods were as quiet as ever as he rode on through, slowing Epona down to a walk so he could take in their surroundings. Zelda's letter had been vague about the precise location in question. He didn't know what he was looking for exactly, and so far nothing here stood out to him. He felt heavy as he rode through the tall brush and shrubbery, unused to the weight of the Hylian Shield and the Master Sword on his back, but he had to admit that he felt powerful wielding the two weapons once more.

It wasn't long before Link lost himself in his thoughts for a second time as his quest turned into more of a joyride of nostalgia instead. Part of him was hoping that Princess Zelda's request to be armed with such powerful weapons wasn't all in vain, but what caused him to press on was the fact that it always seemed like Princess Zelda was never wrong about things such as this.

Vibrant beams of red and orange began slipping in through the trees as the sun began to gradually slip below the horizon. Link had somewhat lost track of how long he had been scouting the Woods, but his back and legs were growing weary from riding, and he knew that Epona was probably feeling it too. Passing the Faron Spring for what he knew was not the first time, he decided that it was a good place to give his horse a short rest and so he guided her in that direction.

Epona seemed to prance with relief after Link finally climbed down from her back, immediately turning to step all four hooves into the chilly crystal clear waters that flowed peacefully from the Spring, taking a good long drink. Link smiled at her behavior as he took a moment to stretch, silently greeting the unseen light spirit that dwelled here as he cast a quick glance up at the waterfalls. He stood at the water's edge, bending and straightening his knees in an attempt to shake off more of the stiffness. Amused, he watched Epona as she indulged herself in the fresh spring water. He knew his ever obedient mare was probably tired after a full day of work at the ranch and now a long journey through the Woods. She deserved to relax for a bit. Smiling to himself, he decided to let her be as he took a brief walk to loosen up. He knew she would be safe there for a few minutes.

He hadn't planned on straying very far from Faron Spring. In fact, he had only managed to wander a short distance away when he heard a soft neigh from his mare that made him glance over at once. His eyes sought out her form through the shadows of the trees on the other end of the spring, and immediately he discovered a silhouette approaching Epona who hadn't seemed to notice his presence. His guard went up without a second thought as he tried to understand how the figure had slipped into the spring without him noticing. He made his way around the spring, sure to remain unheard and unseen. He was sure at any moment, Epona would let out a whinny to alert Link of the intruder and by then he would be close enough to jump into action to fend the stranger off. But what he saw instead made him stop in his tracks.

Epona neighed quietly to the stranger again, nodding her head towards the silhouette in a warm welcome, as if Link himself was the one approaching her. The mare took a step towards the stranger and a hand was raised to pat her muzzle. Link's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He had never seen her treat complete strangers that way.

Confused, he stood and watched, partly hidden behind the shrubs where he had stopped. The figure's stature seemed a little leaner than a typical combatant, Link noted. He could tell that it was also shorter than him. He and Epona were always eye level, but the stranger was an inch or so short of that. Then he caught a fleeting sight of the side of the stranger's face and he gasped. It was a girl.

His guard went down a little as he began making his way towards the girl and his mare once again, puzzled at who she was and where she had come from and why she was in the Woods. He could begin to hear her murmuring to the horse, but couldn't make out any clear words. But then she turned away from him and he tensed up when he made out the outline of a sword sheathed behind her back, as well as a shield.

He needed to get to the bottom of this.

His steps were soundless as he crept up behind her as she reached out again, this time to stroke Epona's neck. He reached behind him to draw the Master Sword and Epona's head swung over towards him in surprise as he unsheathed it. There was a blur of maroon before his eyes and he heard the girl yell, followed by a crash of steel against steel. It took his brain a moment to register what had happened in the mere second that passed, and he realized that his sword hand was still raised above his head. He glanced up with a start to see the Master Sword locked with another sword. Her sword. For a second his mind reeled in shock that he had lost track of his senses even for that sheer moment.

"Who are you and why do you attack me?" the girl spat at him, her eyes narrowed.

Link took a moment to answer, keeping his sword pressed against hers. "Why did you approach my mare and why are you armed?" he responded calmly.

"Why are _you_ armed?" she shot the question back at him.

"I am on a quest," was his only reply. A breeze kicked up towards him and he caught a faint scent of cherry blossom. It was almost enchanting and… familiar.

The girl suddenly withdrew her sword and jumped back. Immediately, Link withdrew as well and waited for her move as she stepped backwards into a patch of evening sunlight still bleeding through the thick canopy. She was clad in a maroon tunic that – much to his surprise – resembled his own in a way. A black bow adorned her short dark blonde hair and her ocean blue eyes pierced him as she studied him in return. He noticed the features of her face and ears and his eyes widened.

"You are Hylian," he said. It was more of a statement than a question.

His words visibly threw her off and he could see a few of her muscles relax as she realized that they were of the same race. "So are you," she noted, slight uncertainty drifting into her previously fierce voice as she looked him up and down.

Was this girl the source of the disturbance that Princess Zelda was sensing? Was the Princess simply sensing the presence of a fellow Hylian? But even if that was true, why now? Any why was it troubling her so?

Link slowly lowered his sword and took a step towards her. He was trying to understand why she looked so familiar. She looked so much like someone he knew very well. But who…? He nearly dropped his sword when it dawned on him.

She looked just like him.

He glanced over at her sword that she had also lowered before his eyes darted back to look at his own weapon. They were exactly the same.

"The Master Sword—" was all Link could think to say in his stupor.

The girl tightened her grip on her sword, pursing her lips. But when she recognized the sword he held, her mouth fell open. "How do you have one just like it?" she wanted to know. "I'm the one that has it."

"I was the Chosen One to remove it from the Pedestal of Time," Link answered.

"No, I was the Chosen Heroine that removed it," she objected in bewilderment.

"Heroine?" he echoed, shaking his head. None of this was making sense.

The girl huffed. "I'm lost," she suddenly admitted, waving her hands as if she was shooing away the previous subject. "I was making my way through Hyrule Field and I was attacked." She rubbed the back of her head. "I was hit in the head… I blacked out and ended up here somehow. I was with my stallion and my friend Onyx, but now I cannot find either of them and I cannot find my way out of this place."

Link sheathed his sword, no longer feeling any threat. "Maybe I can help," he suggested. "I'm Link of Ordon Village." He extended his left hand, but she was giving him a very funny look now, and as soon as she introduced herself he understood why.

"I'm Reni of Ordon Village," she said slowly as her hand reached out to meet his. And as soon as they touched, a sharp pain lanced through his body and he gasped, instantly losing touch with his surroundings.

"Duck!"

A boy's shout penetrated his clouded mind. He found himself in the waving grasslands of Hyrule Field, the ground trembling beneath his hands and knees and the thundering of hooves assaulting his ears. Someone had yelled at him, and apparently he had done as instructed. A bomb arrow whistled past him, barely missing his hat. This was so familiar… yet it wasn't. This wasn't right.

He glanced up in time to see an angry mob of Bullbos galloping towards him and he instinctively jumped back, feeling way too disoriented. As he attempted to calculate his best move, a hand suddenly gripped his shoulder and began pulling on him. He went for the Master Sword.

"No time for that!" that same voice bellowed.

A huge black stallion had appeared beside him and a young man with hair equally as black was pulling him onto the horse's back.

And without warning he was dropped back into the Woods, his senses rushing back to him and leaving him with a feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach. He registered the fact that he had let go of Reni's hand as he tried to even out his breathing. The mark of the Triforce on the back of his hand was burning, feeding his uneasiness. He had no idea what had just happened, but from the look on Reni's face he thought it was safe to assume that she was just as mystified. She was also rubbing the back of her head again, looking pained.

Epona let out a low grunt, breaking the thick silence. She nudged Link's arm.

The Hero looked around the forest for a moment, silently willing himself to calm down. He would worry about this later. Right now he felt he needed to help this girl out. "Come on," he finally spoke, relieved that his voice lacked the trepidation that he was still feeling. "It's getting dark. You must not have come out this way before. I know how to get to Ordon Village from here, it isn't far. Then maybe we can find your horse and your friend." He was ready to head back anyway. He was convinced that nothing in the Woods was out of place, except for Reni.

Reni gave a small smile to him. It complimented her features beautifully. "You're too kind. Thanks."


	3. Chapter 2

_Author Notes: Thanks for the review, Amethyst 269! I feel special. :D_

* * *

**What Lies Beyond**

Chapter 2

The sun had completely slipped below the horizon by the time Link and Reni had made it to Ordon Village. The roads that were always busy with the hustle and bustle of the Village people during the day were dark and empty now that everyone had settled into their homes for the night.

Link and Reni had both been relatively quiet during their hike back to the Village, Link leading Epona by the reins in order to travel on foot beside Reni. The blonde girl had complained once of her head pounding as she touched the place where Link assumed she had been struck, but that had been the only time either of the two were pulled out of their musings. But now that they had arrived, Link was unsure where to go. Reni had not indicated any certain direction to head in to get to her home. He still couldn't understand how he had never seen her if she was really from Ordon like she said she was. The Village was very small, and everyone knew everyone here. Surely he would have taken notice of another Hylian, especially one who looked so much like him. Surely someone would have brought it to his attention that a girl who could almost pass for being related to the Hero of Light was living here in the very same village. His train of thought turned his attention towards the girl walking beside her as he prepared to ask her where her home was, but he stopped when he saw a mask of total confusion on her face.

She seemed to sense his blue eyes on her, because she finally broke her silence. "Where are we?" she wanted to know.

Link looked at her like she was crazy. "Ordon Village," he answered with disbelief at her inquiry. "Isn't this where you said you were from?"

Reni nodded slowly as they came to a stop, her eyes darting across the scenery of the quiet village. "I guess I didn't realize how long it's been since I've really been home," she explained, uncertainty lacing each word she spoke. "It looks so… different…"

Link thought on her words for a moment. He thought back on Ordon Village and how it had grown, shifted, and changed over the course of time. He could understand where she was coming from. There had been many times when he had embarked on different journeys, leaving his home for such long periods of time that when he finally returned it disoriented him sometimes when things were not exactly the way they were when he had left.

Reni suddenly wobbled slightly, mumbling unintelligibly as she held her head in her hand for a minute. Link reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder and help steady her, furrowing his brow in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Reni slowly regained her balance. "Yes," she replied after a while, "it's just been a very long day. I need to lie down soon."

The Hero looked her over. She still looked a little unsteady on her feet. "It sounds like you've had a lot happen today and maybe you're a little disoriented from the blow to your head." He glanced back towards his home that they had passed only a few minutes ago. "How about we take shelter at my house for the night and we can find your friends and your home when daylight returns and you've had some rest."

She looked at him for a moment, but then that oddly charming smile of hers made another short-lived appearance. "You really sound like you know what you're talking about," she remarked.

Link only nodded with a small smile of his own. He knew all too well, he thought as he guided her and Epona in the opposite direction towards his home. Yes, things would be much better in the morning. Reni could get some rest, and perhaps if they stopped by Mayor Bo's house he could help Link jog her memory of Ordon Village. She could even join Link on his journey to Castle Town to report his findings to Princess Zelda and they could search for her friends along the way. Yes, that sounded like a good adventure for tomorrow, Link decided as he bid Epona goodnight a second time and motioned for Reni to climb up behind him to his front door.

"I don't know why but this looks familiar," Reni muttered, more to herself than to Link.

Link shrugged faintly as he let them both inside. Reni gazed around at the Hero's humble home as the faint scent of the Ordon evergreens wafted towards her, intrigued by the pottery and knickknacks all along the shelves and the few pictures that hung on the walls. It was a very open and cheery home, even at night. But it was also very… small, she noted, looking over as Link kicked off his boots beside the door. She felt she needed to do the same to display good manners so she did, leaving her own brown leather boots next to his. She glanced up at her surroundings again, her eyes wandering up the ladders that led up to the different levels and platforms of the home. Even in its smallness, it still seemed spacious.

"Do you live alone?" Reni wanted to know, noticing only one bed towards the back of the house.

Link nodded. He had headed over towards the sink, picking out a drinking cup from one of the cabinets before filling it up with water.

Reni watched him as he returned to her side there in the middle of the house, handing her the glass of water he had just filled. "I thought you might be thirsty," the boy said softly.

She thanked him with a smile and took a sip, but her mind was still on her previous question and the size of his home. He looked like he was no older than a young teen like her. It was very uncommon for someone so young to live by himself. "Where are your—?" she cut herself short, realizing the possible insensitivity of such a blunt question as he turned around to look her in the eye. She busied her mouth with a long drink of water.

Link looked at her for a moment, but the expression on his face remained passive. "My parents?" he finished for her.

"Yes," Reni answered after a few moments.

He only shrugged.

"Oh," she murmured. "Same for me…" Link's ears perked up at her statement, seemingly interested, so she continued. "I've lived in Ordon for as long as I can remember," she explained, idly tracing a finger around the rim of her cup. "A few of the villagers took me in as their own… raised me and mentored me. But I don't really know much of anything else about my upbringing."

The Hero was nodding in understanding, rummaging in his cabinets again. "Me too," he said.

Reni also nodded. "Onyx and I grew up together," she went on. "His family is from Kakariko Village but they all came to Ordon after a bit of a spat with the Gorons in Death Mountain. He's the only other thing I really know of from when I was very young." She lost herself for a moment in her thoughts, thinking of Onyx and hoping he was all right wherever he was. But then the cup of water was suddenly being lifted out of her grasp and she looked with a start to see that a glass bottle containing a deep crimson liquid was being pressed into her hands. Link was standing right in front of her with a bit of a smile.

"It's red potion," he told her. She didn't tell him that she already knew this. "Drink that and get some rest. I bet you'll feel better in the morning."

Blushing slightly at his hospitality, she only nodded, feeling a little shy under the gaze of his intense blue eyes. _Such a selfless, quiet, lonely boy,_ she thought to herself as she uncorked the glass bottle. _Somehow seems so familiar…_

* * *

Link stared blankly up at the slanted ceiling of the house, periodically shifting his eyes to glance out at the night sky through the small window he was next to. It was a rare occurrence when Link couldn't sleep. Sleep usually came naturally and swiftly to him, especially after long days full of countless duties and errands. But tonight any kind of slumber was evading him. He grunted as he turned to fluff his pillow before lying on his back once more against the planks of the loft's wooden floor. He had given Reni his bed for the evening. She had protested at first, refusing to allow Link to sleep on the floor of his own home. But Reni had had what sounded like a traumatizing day, and it wasn't long before her weary body urged her to reluctantly give in. She had fallen asleep almost instantly, and Link kept an eye on her for a while to ensure there were no discrepancies in her sleeping pattern that might signify any kind of head trauma. He eventually decided to get some rest of his own for the busy day ahead and chose the highest level of his house for his makeshift bed. He had chosen this spot to make sure he gave Reni plenty of space and privacy. He wasn't worried about sleeping on the floor. He had slept in countless conditions before, ranging from caves to meadows to dirt ground and had never had any troubles before. But he knew his physical location was not what was keeping him awake. His mind was alive with racing thoughts and unanswered questions and unsatisfied curiosity, all of it revolving around the girl sleeping several feet below him.

Link sat up and kicked the blanket off of him, crawling over to poke his head though the wooden banister to check on his guest downstairs. She was just as he had left her, resting soundly. For a moment he almost felt as if he were having an out-of-body experience as he stared, once again struck by her eerie resemblance to him. The questions of how and why plagued his mind again, leaving him confused and discontent. He rose up to climb down the ladder.

His original intention for coming downstairs had been to get a drink of water, but as his bare feet touched down on the wood floor he caught sight of Reni's weaponry glinting in the dim moonlight and he stopped. She had left her sword and shield on the floor beside the bed. Even from where he stood, he was sure he would have mistaken her weapons for his own had he not known that his were resting on the chest by the front door. He wandered over towards her belongings, staring down at what seemed to be an exact copy of his Hylian Shield. He was indeed aware that it was not exactly absurd to find another Hylian Shield in existence. Of course not. All of the Knights of Hyrule wielded Hylian Shields; Reni had probably somehow attained one in a similar way that he had. No, what had his real interest was the blade resting beside that shield. An identical twin of the Master Sword.

Link bent down and slowly, noiselessly, slid Reni's sword out from its sheath, careful not to awaken the blonde girl. He held it up towards him, letting it catch more of the moonlight to have a better look at it. The hilt, the engravings, the tinctures… everything was equal to the one currently in his possession. He turned away from the bed and lightly thrust the sword outward, testing its weight, which he found to be the same. Holding it felt so familiar to him, as if he were grasping the very same blade he had retrieved from the Sacred Grove.

As he held it outward again to give it another swing, the mark of the Triforce on his left hand burst into life with a sharp twinge. He hissed in pain and lost his grip on the sword as he involuntarily retracted his hand. He could only watch with eyes wide in alarm as the sword plunged to the wood floor with a horrendous clatter. He gritted his teeth as he clenched his left hand in his right, whirling around as Reni's body stirred to life. He froze. He was about to get caught red-handed.

"Onyx…?" came Reni's drowsy voice.

Link remained stock-still, trying to blend into the silence around him and praying she didn't turn her eyes in his direction. He watched as she groggily raised a hand briefly into the air before it dropped back down onto the soft fleece of the bed once again.

"Onyx, you okay…?" she mumbled another question, her words somewhat strung together.

Onyx. That was the name of her lost friend, he recalled. He glanced around his dark home as if he would find something that would offer an escape. Should he move? Should he respond? There was no telling how she would react if she saw him handling her belongings, especially her sword. But she was still half-asleep. That was the only thing that was currently saving him.

However, she was getting restless. Link swallowed hard. "Mmmhmm," he finally muttered in response to her question, feeling a bit silly.

Reni huffed and rolled over to face away from him, tangling herself in the bed's blankets. Peace came to rest with her once again. Link waited a few beats before he finally let go of the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. That was a close call. Swiftly, he returned Reni's sword to its place beside the bed, eliminating the evidence that he had tampered with it. He'd rather fight off a dozen Bulblins than deal with the fury of an angry girl. The traces of a smile momentarily danced on his lips as he remembered Ilia's outburst once when she had found a small gash in Epona's flank after Link had returned home from one of his many journeys. That had been an escapade all in itself.

He stood there for a few more moments until he was reassured that she had indeed fallen asleep again. Sighing, he turned his attention back to his left hand. The sharp pains had subsided, but a slight burning sensation still lingered. He rubbed the mark with his other hand, frowning. That was the second time in less than twenty-four hours that his Triforce mark had reacted to something. But to what? He had been nowhere near any kind of danger during either incident. There hadn't even been a common factor in either occurrence except for…

His head snapped up to look back at Reni's sleeping form and his mind began running rampant. This hadn't started happening until he met her. Did her presence have anything to do with this? Perhaps there was indeed something more to this girl, and perhaps he simply was not rightfully acknowledging the wariness his subconscious mind was holding against her. Maybe there was a reason why he hadn't felt completely at ease since their encounter in Faron Woods. He finally shook his head and turned away from her, letting her be for now. He was sure his concerns would be laid to rest once they went to talk to Princess Zelda. For a reason he could not explain, he was a little too anxious for that time to come.

* * *

He woke up from an incredibly restless sleep to the distinct smell of bacon. He sat up, rubbing his eyes with his fists as he kicked his feet out from under a knot of blankets. He must have really tossed and turned in the small amount of sleep he had, he mused with a big yawn. But then his brain finally registered the fact that he had definitely not cooked anything in order for his house to smell of food at all. He rose up quickly and leaned over the loft's banister to gaze down at the bottom floor. His eyes first settled upon the sight of his dining table, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. It had been set for two people; oatmeal, eggs and milk were already prepared. Reni had just removed a pan of goat bacon and chicken sausage from the fire, and was adding a few pieces of each to the two plates on the table. But in the middle of doing so she suddenly looked up and met Link's stare. Immediately, she paused and blushed profusely as she failed to successfully read the expression on the boy's face.

"Um, good morning," she stammered. She hesitantly motioned towards the food on the table. "I hope you don't mind… I thought I'd make us some breakfast from what I found in your cabinets. I thought making you breakfast is the least I could do in return for you letting me stay here for the night…"

A bit of a surprised smile crossed Link's face as he swiftly climbed downstairs and headed towards the table, glancing down once more at their awaiting breakfast. "Thanks, Reni," he said to her, "you didn't have to do this." He was pretty sure that this was the most cooking his little kitchenette had seen for breakfast in months. Cooking was most definitely not his favorite thing.

Reni relaxed a little and gave him a smile. "I woke up hungry and I figured you would be, too. I feel a lot better thanks to you."

They sat down together at the table and ate most of their breakfast in silence, save for the small crackling fire Reni had started in the oven in order to cook. Link figured Reni's mind was probably preoccupied with thoughts of her missing friend now that her head was clear, but he still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling still present in the corner of his own mind. Sitting back in his chair away from his empty plate, his gaze wandered over to the girl's weaponry beside the bed as he finished off the last of his milk. Just the sight of it caused his uneasiness to multiply.

"What?" Reni spoke up, snapping Link back to reality. Her eyes darted between him and her equipment on the floor.

Link only shook his head, promptly directing the conversation elsewhere. "We should get going. I was thinking of stopping by the mayor's house before we look for your friends. I have to go to Castle Town and we can look on the way there."

Link cleared the dishes from the table, leaving them in the sink to be washed later as Reni headed to gather her belongings, strapping the sword and shield onto her back. Minutes later, Link was prepared for the day as well. He paused by the chest where his own equipment lay, and as he picked his things up, Reni's ocean blue eyes locked onto the Master Sword. She scowled.

"How did you get your hands on a sword identical to the Master Sword?" the girl inquired curtly.

Link glanced down at the sword still in his hands, almost feeling offended at her tone. "This _is_ the Master—" He bit down on his last word when he saw Reni's hand reach for his sword's hilt. But before he could even rip it out of her grip she let out a pained gasp, snatching her hand back as if she had burned it on a hot stove. She held it tightly in her other hand, glowering at the sword.

"Are… are you okay?" Link questioned slowly, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Reni looked back at him, looking both aggravated and spooked. "Yeah…" she finally replied.

Link proceeded to fasten his weaponry on as he eyed her guardedly. "What happened?"

"Nothing," was her instant reply.

They studied each other for a moment, but then they silently came to a mutual decision to drop the subject when Link wordlessly turned away from her and led her outside.

The sun was high in its mid-morning sky, a light breeze dancing through the Ordon trees. Epona was excited to see the two Hylians as they approached her, nickering happily as Link greeted her and then nuzzling Reni's hand until she pet her. Link gathered her reins in one hand and he led Reni and his mare through the village towards the mayor's house. He had hoped that recognition would dawn on the girl now that she could see Ordon Village in the daylight, but the sights only baffled her just as much as they had last night. The frustration towards her confusion was evident in her face, and she was quiet as they followed the path through town. For once he was glad that there were hardly any people outside yet to see them pass by. He didn't know how he would explain something he didn't understand himself.

"Link!"

He and Reni had barely crossed the bridge over the stream when a familiar voice called to him. He peeked around Epona in time to see a small blonde girl bounding up to him with a huge smile on her face. Reni stepped back with raised eyebrows as the girl flung her arms around a startled Link's neck in a friendly hug.

"Guess what, Link!" Ilia exclaimed as she hung on his neck for a moment, but then her smile faltered slightly. "Wait, why are you dressed like that again, Link? Is… is something happening?"

Link shook his head quickly. "Everything's fine. I'm going to Castle Town today to see the Princess," he answered.

She pondered on his words for a second, but then she seemed to accept it. She looked up at Reni. "Who's your friend? Why is she… dressed like you?"

"Ilia… this is Reni." He glanced over at the Hylian girl, who was eyeing Ilia warily. He chose not to answer her second question. Instead, he tried to bury it. "What were you going to tell me?"

Ilia's green eyes finally tore away from the silent Reni and her face came to life again with enthusiasm. "Oh yes!" she said, clasping her hands together. "Father brought in a visitor last night! He's not from around here… he seemed lost so Father let him take shelter in the spare room." She motioned towards her home only a short distance ahead of them. "But look what our visitor brought with him!"

Link and Reni both turned towards the direction she was pointing in. Standing before the front porch was an incredibly muscular black stallion, its powerful neck currently bowed down as it contentedly chewed at a basket of carrots that had no doubt been given by Ilia.

"As long as the visitor stays in town," Ilia continued as she fondly stroked Epona's side, "I thought Epona might like to have a playmate! She's always the only horse around here, I'm sure that gets lonely."

But Reni wasn't listening to the other girl. The stallion had captured her attention. A grin pulled at the corner of her lips. "That's my horse!" she suddenly proclaimed.

Ilia and Link both looked with surprise as Reni burst forward and dashed towards the black steed. The horse raised its head as she drew closer, neighing warmly to her. She hooked an arm around its neck, combing her fingers through the long, dark mane. "I'm so glad I found you!" she was saying to it.

"This is your missing horse?" asked Link as he approached Reni with Ilia and Epona in tow.

"I thought this horse belonged to our visitor," Ilia objected before Reni could respond, her hands on her hips.

Reni stopped abruptly and whirled around to the other girl, scowling. "Who is this 'visitor' you're talking about?" she questioned suspiciously.

Ilia frowned at her. "He said his name is Onyx—"

Reni's gasp prevented Ilia from explaining any further. "Onyx is here?" she cried, her eyes wide. "Link, Onyx is here! I have to see him now! Take me to him!"

Ilia gave Link a look of hesitation and Link only shrugged in return, unable to offer any clarification. But the younger girl wordlessly dashed into the house to summon her father. Moments later, Mayor Bo stepped outside onto the front porch with Ilia, also accompanied by a young boy behind him. The boy was tall with short jet-black hair, looking about the same age as Link and Reni. Reni could hardly contain her relief as she yelled out Onyx's name and the boy's face lit up when he saw her. They met halfway on the steps to the front porch, embracing tightly. Mayor Bo joined Ilia and Link as the two newcomers engrossed themselves in their reuniting.

"Good morning, Link," Bo greeted the Hero. "I had not realized that you had brought in a new friend as well."

Link made a bit of a face. "Not exactly…" he answered slowly, unsure whether to elaborate or not.

"I see." Bo recognized his uneasiness and reached out to rest a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Ilia, would you please excuse Link and I for a few minutes? We have a few… matters to discuss in private."

Ilia studied her father for a moment before glancing over at Link, furrowing her brow as if to object. But instead she took hold of Epona's reins and led her over towards the black stallion. "Come on, Epona," she cooed to the mare, "let's go meet your new friend."

Bo and Link watched her go for a moment before they both turned away from the house. "I can tell when you are wary of speaking in front of mixed company, Link," he remarked, looking a bit concerned. "I can see something is troubling you."

Link glanced back at Reni, who had taken a seat at the edge of the elevated front porch beside Onyx. "I found this girl lost in Faron Woods," he began. "She told me she lives here in Ordon, but it's like she doesn't recognize this place at all."

Bo also looked back to examine Reni. "I've never seen her before in my life," he admitted.

The blonde sighed. "I was kind of hoping bringing her to you would help her, but she didn't seem to recognize you, either. Only that boy."

"That boy, Onyx, said he is from Kakariko Village. He seemed to hint that he was familiar with Ordon, but I have never seen him before, either. He also mentioned something about being attacked and being knocked unconscious for a while. He had found himself just outside the woods, but he wandered into town so late last night with that horse of his."

"I think they were together at first and then got separated," Link surmised. "Reni said the same things. She was attacked and she blacked out."

"Perhaps they are suffering from a small case of amnesia or confusion?" The mayor's concern etched itself deeper into the features of his face. "Do you think something is wrong, lad? You are dressed again as the ancient hero."

"I'm going to speak with Princess Zelda today," Link explained. He didn't dare say anything more as he remembered her letter.

"Ah," said Bo. "Very good. Hopefully there is nothing too serious we need to be worrying about…"

Before Link could devise an answer, the sound of footsteps on the dirt path caught their attention and they turned around to find Reni and Onyx approaching them tentatively. Reni smiled at them. "We just wanted to thank you guys for letting us stay here for the night," she said. "Link, this is my best friend Onyx that I was telling you about."

The dark-haired boy was also smiling and his arm was extended for a handshake. Link returned the gesture with a firm hand, but as his sapphire eyes met Onyx's chocolate brown, an eerie feeling of déjà vu dropped onto him like a brick and he barely managed to maintain his composure. This boy… This was not the first time he had seen him. He racked his mind. When? Where? How? Finally, it set in. This was the boy in the vision he had in Faron Woods. The feel of their hands clasping together even for just a moment – it was the very same grip of the boy that hoisted him onto the horse in his altered flashback.

"Link?" Reni called uncertainly. She had picked up on the incredibly slight change in his demeanor. "Is… is it okay if Onyx joins us on our way to Castle Town?"

The Hero shook himself out of his thoughts. He gave her a little smile and nodded. This whole thing seemed to be getting stranger and stranger. His apprehension towards Reni and now Onyx was multiplying at an alarming rate. There were way too many loose ends and he had nothing to tie them to. He sincerely hoped their visit to Princess Zelda would somehow shed some light.

On anything.


	4. Chapter 3

_Author Notes: Thanks for reviewing, XxxBlackHeartxxX! This chapter was a huge challenge for me, but alas, here it is. Please keep up the R&R! That's what keeps us writers writing, right? :D_

* * *

**What Lies Beyond**

Chapter 3

Epona's reins were loose in his hands as Link easily guided her through the thick greenery of Faron Woods. Rarely did he have to give her a slight tug in order to steer her in the right direction; she was almost as much of an expert at navigating Hyrule as he was. He smiled at that notion, but it was short-lived as he revisited his previous thoughts that were centered on the two newcomers following him.

Reni and Onyx were close behind on her large black stallion. Although Reni had made it very clear that the horse did indeed belong to her, it seemed to Link that they acted as if it belonged to both of them. When they departed from Ordon Village, Onyx had taken the reins and Reni had been more than okay with slipping into the saddle behind him. The two of them talked up a storm all through Ordon Woods and through most of Faron Woods as well, but now that they were crossing into Hyrule Field the both of them fell quiet, leaving the distinct melody of the horses' hoof beats as the only sound to accompany them. Link wasn't sure whether he preferred it that way or not. The silence helped him keep to his thoughts, and he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. His brain was working in overtime trying to formulate logical theories and explanations for all of the strange things that had occurred in the past twenty-four hours. It had all started with an unsettling letter from Princess Zelda that led him to meet a young girl who could easily be mistaken for his twin. From that point on his Triforce had been acting harshly and his mind hadn't taken any time to rest. And then he had met a boy who he had seen before in a flashback that didn't match his memories at all. He couldn't dismiss the foreboding hunch that he was missing a very large piece of this strange puzzle.

His ears perked up when he heard Onyx mutter his name, apparently convinced that he was out of the Hero's earshot. Link remained facing forward, but he listened as Onyx questioned Reni about the blonde boy's appearance. "Is… Is it common for Hylians to look alike sometimes?" he was asking her.

Link couldn't help himself as his head whipped around to witness Reni's reaction to Onyx's question. The blonde girl only made an incredibly unpleasant face and scowled at the back of her friend's head. "Never mind that, Onyx," she answered stiffly. "We just need to get to Castle Town."

"I agree," Onyx said with a nod, "but are we going the right way?" They both shifted their gazes to focus on the boy before them.

Link turned to sit upright in his saddle and he nudged Epona's sides with his heels. The mare obediently sped up into a swift canter. "Of course we are," he called back to them, "this is the only way there from Ordon."

Onyx urged the black stallion to match Epona's speed. "I'm not so sure about that," he countered. "I've gone to Castle Town plenty of times from the other direction."

Link didn't even contemplate Onyx's objection. He didn't have to. It was ludicrous. "There is no other way," he remarked, wrinkling his nose at Onyx's obvious error in judgment.

"Never mind that," Reni cut in, "as long as we get to Castle Town, we'll know our way to the Princess from there."

Reni's statement struck Link as peculiar and he furrowed his brow. She had made it sound as if she was planning on speaking with Princess Zelda on her own, regardless of whether Link was coming or not. The uneasiness in the pit of his stomach grew. "She is expecting you, too?" he tried to make a reasonable guess.

"No," Reni answered, "I have to warn her."

Both of Link's hands clutched the reins as he yanked them with too much force. Epona let out an agitated whinny as she skidded to a quick stop. He spun around in his saddle to stare back at the duo behind him as the black steed came to a startled halt beside Epona. Onyx was looking on in surprise, but the grave look on Reni's face was nearly enough to double Link's apprehension.

"Warn her about what?" Link inquired levelly, his eyes never leaving hers.

Her expression never shifted. "Hyrule isn't safe. There is a man… a wielder of unspeakable dark magic. He's after the kingdom."

For a moment, Link stared at her as if she was crazy, but then his warrior instincts took over and his face lost any hint of expression. "How do you know this?" he questioned.

"He was the one who attacked us yesterday," Onyx answered. "He says his name is Menseki."

"Menseki…?" Link echoed.

"We don't know yet of what he's capable of," Reni went on, "but he's dangerous… and very powerful."

Link sat still for a few moments, his gaze set in the direction of Hyrule Castle. Perhaps there was more to Princess Zelda's premonitions after all. Perhaps he was dealing with something much larger than a strange Hylian girl and her friend lost in Faron Woods. Suddenly this trip to Castle Town wasn't as relaxed as he first thought it would be. "That must be it," he muttered to himself.

"What must be it?" Reni asked him.

Link took in a deep breath. "She tried to warn me about something…" He trailed off.

Reni raised an eyebrow. "Warn you? Why would she warn _you_?"

"Reni…" Onyx admonished her, but she disregarded him.

The Hero's head snapped back to eye the girl incredulously. "What kind of question is that?"

"You're just a boy in a part of Ordon Village that I've somehow never even seen before. How – why would Princess Adelina choose to contact someone like you?"

Link would have been completely offended by her brusqueness if he wasn't so hung up on the name she had just uttered. "Who?" he cried in disbelief. "Don't you mean Princess Zelda?" He glanced over at Onyx, who only looked back at him in questioningly.

"What?" Reni exclaimed. "You don't even know the name of Hyrule's own Princess? You don't get out of Ordon much, do you? Why don't you come out from that rock you're living under?"

"Reni…" Onyx started again.

"Enough!" the blonde girl shouted. "I don't have time for this!" She was glaring daggers at the Hylian boy in front of her. "I need to get to Princess Adelina and I will find my way there from here with or without your help!"

Onyx spun around to look at her. "Reni, come on now. We don't need to—"

But her frustration was getting the best of her and she lashed out in blind anger. "I'm going now, Onyx, and if you're not joining me then stay here!" Her teeth were bared as she suddenly threw her weight against him, setting him off-balance in the saddle. He gasped as he made a grab for the reins, but Reni reached around him and snatched them up before he could. The black steed reared up and let out an alarmed whinny as Onyx toppled right out of the saddle. Reni snapped the reins and her stallion took off, leaving a shocked Link and a fallen Onyx in her dust.

The Hero gazed down wide-eyed at Onyx as the dark-haired boy rose to his feet, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "Are you okay?" Link asked. "I'm sorry she treated you so badly like that."

Onyx stood upright to meet Link's gaze, giving a faint shrug as he shook his head. "No worries. Growing up with her all these years has gotten me used to the brief spurts of her temper."

"Come on, I'll get you back to her." Link stretched out his hand to help Onyx up onto Epona, and he couldn't help but recall that strange flashback once again, only this time the tables were turned. As Onyx climbed up into the saddle behind him, Link imagined himself being pulled onto that black horse amongst a mob of charging Bullbos.

"Thanks, Link." Onyx's voice pulled him out of his reverie. "I assure you Reni isn't like this all the time. She just gets testy when she's confronted with things she can't understand."

Link only nodded, nudging his mare's sides until she broke out into a gallop, guiding her in the direction Reni had disappeared to. For a while they rode in silence. They had barely crossed the Kakariko Gorge when they finally caught sight of the silhouette of a girl mounted on a dark steed. Link leaned forward in the saddle as Epona dashed forward with a burst of new energy to catch up to her, but then he belatedly realized that she had come to a stop. Perplexed, he gently urged Epona to slow down as they came down the small knoll, granting them a clearer view of Reni's position as they descended. They found her stopped beside a horseless covered wagon that was resting uncomfortably against a tall boulder. It seemed a bit rickety and somewhat broken down, appearing to have been left there by force, not by choice. Reni blankly glanced over her shoulder at Onyx and Link as they approached her before she hopped off of her horse to investigate the wagon.

"Hello?" she called into the wagon as Link and Onyx slid off of Epona.

A rustling noise suddenly emanated from inside the wagon, startling the three of them. A balding older man jumped out from the back of the wagon, his dark eyes darting about wildly as he stepped forward with a slight limp. "Who's there?" he demanded, flailing around a small hunting knife as he adjusted his large round glasses higher onto his nose. But as he focused on the three alarmed young teens before him, he lowered his weapon in surprise, although the echoes of panic remained etched in his aged features. "Kids!" he exclaimed. "What're you doin' out here? Y'all need to get on out of here! Got out of the entire Eldin Province if ya can!"

"Are you okay, sir?" Reni asked worriedly as she looked him up and down. His clothes were dirtied and tattered; cloth was missing in several places to reveal shallow gashes in his dark skin. She eyed his knife. "We mean no harm…"

The old man grunted and scratched his head with his free hand. "We were escaping the mess in Kakariko Village when somethin' in the harness came loose and our horse got away from us. He was pretty spooked from the attack so he ran and I'm too old to go chasin' after him! I went to check on my family in this here wagon to make sure they're okay, but we're sittin' ducks here if we all don't get on out!"

"Attack?" Link spoke up. "What are you running from?"

"Some madman is completely demolishing the town!" the old man shouted at them, waving his arms frantically. "Never seen anything like him before, nope. He's like a crazed sorcerer, turning the place inside out like he's looking for someone or something. We got outta there while we could to find safety! Takin' shelter at an inn in Castle Town. I suggest you do the same, kids! Don't go in there!"

Link's eyebrows shot up as he looked over at Reni. Her lips had become a thin line. "Menseki," she growled.

An eerie calmness washed over Link as he turned back to the old man, clenching his hands into fists at his sides for only a moment before releasing them again. Suddenly, everything that had been troubling his thoughts faded away into the depths of his consciousness, and the composure of the ancient hero within him took over. His mind prioritized everything around him, and right now what mattered most was the safety of this family in front of him.

"Where did your horse head off to?" the Hero asked the old man.

The old man pointed off into the distance towards the wooden bridge that stretched out across the gorge. Link's eyes followed the indicated direction, squinting a little for a slightly better view of the distance. When he lifted his gaze towards the sky he spotted a small flock of Kargaroks circling over something that was hidden from where he stood. He pursed his lips and jumped onto Epona in an instant.

"Where are you going?" Reni questioned him, her eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to get their horse back," Link answered. With that he pulled on Epona's reins and she took off.

Reni didn't waste a second. She whirled around to her companion. "Onyx, could you stay here with them and keep them safe?" she asked him, nodding towards the old man and his wagon.

"Of course," Onyx replied immediately. "Go."

Reni nodded her thanks to him and mounted her black steed in one quick motion, chasing after Link towards the direction of the man's lost horse. She stayed low in the saddle as she encouraged the stallion to catch up to the brown mare ahead of them. But as she drew closer to Link and his horse, she caught sight of movement off to her right. She spotted a flash of brown and white just before one of the overhead Kargaroks suddenly dove down to attack. A distant whinny rang out into the atmosphere.

"Got'cha," Reni muttered to herself.

Link had seen Reni approaching from the corner of his eye, but when her horse suddenly veered off to the side he glanced over in surprise, alarmed that something had happened to her. But then he looked past her towards the swarming Kargaroks and he saw what she was after and he followed suit without a second thought. He had had a feeling that the buzzards would help him find what they were looking for.

The brown and white painted horse let out another shrill whinny as it reared up onto its hind legs, angrily kicking its front hooves at the diving Kargaroks all around it. It whirled around and bucked furiously, trying to free itself from two Bulblins that were clinging onto its back, yanking at its reins. The Hero's bow was in Link's hand at once and his legs clung to Epona's sides as he let go of the reins to aim at one of the Bulblins on the frightened creature's back. He bit his lower lip as he drew back his arrow, trying to maintain a good aim on his moving target while the painted horse kicked and thrashed heatedly. He had a crystal clear shot for only a second and he took it. The arrow shot out from the bow's string in the blink of an eye, expertly piercing its target squarely in the chest. The Kargaroks withdrew higher into the air, startled as the penetrated Bulblin wobbled before it began to fall backwards off the horse's back. It tried to reach for the first Bulblin to help maintain its balance, but missed and tumbled down into the grass, motionless. Without missing a beat, Link drew back another arrow to aim for the remaining Bulblin. But as he pulled back on the bow's string a second time, a sharp whistling noise blew past him; more Kargaroks squawked and fled the scene as the remaining Bulblin teetered and fell, following the same fate as its accomplice. Link lowered his bow and looked around in confusion only to lock his gaze with intense ocean blue eyes as Reni's horse carried her up beside Epona. He almost felt like he was looking in a mirror when he found an exact duplication of his bow in her hand. His face remained expressionless and he forced himself to look away, suppressing the haunting discomfort the sight had provoked and he refocused on the matter at hand.

Reni shifted her eyes forward as he did, watching as the brown and white horse broke out into another gallop across the grassland, trying to outrun the few lingering Kargaroks. "Come on," she called to Link, "let's close in on it."

Link glanced back at her. She had already done away with her bow, and he briefly wondered if he had imagined it all. But he shook his head – and his mind cleared as he put away his own bow, keeping low in his saddle as he and Reni raced after the runaway horse. Gaining on it was no problem as Link and Reni approached it from both sides, but the horse was incredibly spooked and its path was erratic. Reni nodded at Link from the opposite side of the horse, trying to help it maintain a straight path.

"All right, Epona," Link encouraged his mare, "just stay straight for me, girl."

He kept his mind blank from any distractions as he slowly rose up from the saddle, straightening his legs until his full weight was in the stirrups alone. The continuous thunder of heavy hooves beating the ground throbbed in his ears as he silently willed Epona closer to the fleeing horse's right side. He held his breath as his outstretched hand groped for the horse's reins dangling just past his fingertips, taunting him as they danced in the rushing wind with the rhythm of the horse's unsteady gallop. He leaned further… a little further…

The painted horse snorted and tried to change direction to escape from Link only to be met with Reni and her steed on its opposite side. It neighed with fury and bucked in retaliation. Reni's stallion whinnied in protest and reared up onto its hind legs in defense. Reni gasped as she felt the force of gravity pull her backwards out of her saddle, the reins slipping right out of her hands as she met the hard ground below.

"Reni!" Link yelled as she fell, but suddenly he saw his chance at seizing the runaway horse as it tried to flee from the proximity of Reni's reeling stallion. He had no choice but to take it. He made a wild grab for those flailing reins again – and this time gripped that old worn leather strap tightly in his hand. He gritted his teeth as he pulled on both the horse's reins and the reins of his own mare, shouting at them to stop. Epona dug her hooves into the ground to kill her momentum, but the painted horse swung its head in aggravation, nearly pulling Link along with it. The Hero barely gave himself time to acknowledge his next maneuver as he let the horse's jerking head give him enough of a boost to help him jump from Epona's back. For a moment, he felt like he was simply being dragged, suspended in between the two horses as both hands held a death grip on the reins. The horse reared up again, and Link took that opportunity to align himself correctly with its bare back, and as the horse's front hooves returned to the ground he pulled again, speaking calmly to it as he attempted to slow it down. His legs gripped the horse's sides so tightly his muscles burned as the horse bucked again, but the blonde stayed put, assuring it that there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. Finally, after what seemed like hours to Link, the horse began to feed off of his soothing tone and it calmed, no longer able to locate any threats in its surroundings. Link breathed a sigh of relief as he brought the horse to a halt, patting its neck comfortingly.

"Quite a wrangler, I see."

Link looked back to see that Reni had already jumped back into the saddle after being dumped into the grass by her stallion. She came up beside him with Epona close behind, looking mildly impressed.

"You okay?" he asked her. "That was quite a fall you took back there."

Reni shrugged it off. "No big deal," she replied. "It happens. Come on, we need to get back to the others and figure out what's really going on."

* * *

The old man couldn't stop thanking Link and Reni as they returned the painted horse to the covered wagon. The two Hylians dismounted their horses as Onyx and the old man quickly went to work fastening the harness back onto the horse. Onyx briefly mentioned to Link and Reni that several other villagers from Kakariko had passed by in their absence, all of them frightened and seemingly fleeing for the same reasons as the family they were currently helping. His expression held hints of concern as he turned to help the man secure the horse to keep it from breaking free again.

"Onyx and I still know several people that live in Kakariko Village," Reni told Link, watching her steed interact curiously with the brown mare beside it. "I hope they're all okay…"

"Me too," Link agreed.

She turned to face him. "I'm sorry I kind of blew up at you earlier," she sighed. "It's just been a very strange couple of days and I guess it's really putting me on edge."

The Hero nodded in understanding. "It's okay," he replied with a shrug. He saw her cringe vaguely and she bowed her head, gingerly rubbing her left forearm. "Are you okay?" he asked her, worry creasing his brow as he took a step towards her.

Reni waved him away dismissively with her other hand. "Yeah, I'm fine. Used my hands to break my fall when I got knocked off my horse earlier and I just landed funny. Don't worry about it…"

"No," Link protested, "that's what you said back at the house. Let me see, maybe I can help…"

Reni sighed in defeat. "I'm sure it's fine, Link… If it's not, then it will be soon enough…"

Link paused to look at Reni, her last few words striking him oddly. But she kept her eyes cast downward, unwilling to meet his. However she continued to remove the wrist guard from her left arm, hesitantly peeling off the different layers to reveal a very bruised and swollen limb. She presented it to him with her palm upward. Link gently took it in his right hand, his eyebrows raised.

"I don't know if I'd call that fine, Reni," he remarked.

Reni began to pull her hand away from him, but refrained from breaking his grasp at last second, looking a little uncomfortable. "It's not a big deal, Link. Really. It's probably just sprained. I'll take care of it…" She trailed off abruptly when Link – who had innocently been inspecting her engorged wrist – turned her palm over in his hand. She saw his whole body tense up when he saw the back of her hand, his eyes fixed onto a very defined triangular mark in her skin, a mark that he knew all too well. His brain was refusing to acknowledge the sight he was beholding, but there was no way that he could deny the significance of the symbol she possessed.

His head jerked up to look her in the face. His expression was unreadable, but his sapphire eyes bore into hers with such an intensity that made her want to retract from him. Silenced stretched on at a crawl.

"The Triforce," Link finally spoke. "You're marked with the Triforce?"

Reni eyed him for a long time, trying earnestly to gauge his tone of voice. "What do you know of the Triforce?" she inquired. She removed her arm from his grasp and this time he allowed it.

Reni watched with uncertainty as Link hastily ripped off the leather protection from his left arm until his hand was completely exposed. He held it up to her, revealing to her his own mark of the Triforce. She gasped, and for a while she didn't speak as utter shock crossed over her face, soon followed by suspicion and then bewilderment. "You were chosen, too," she surmised, looking as if she didn't even comprehend her own words.

He only nodded.

"But there are only three parts of the Triforce," Reni objected, shaking her head. "This… This doesn't make sense."

"Exactly," Link agreed. He stepped back. "A lot of things haven't made sense lately…"

"Link, Reni," Onyx called to them from beside the horse and covered wagon. "We're ready to go. Let's get things rolling."

An older woman's head appeared in the opening at the front of the covered wagon. Her gray hair was tousled and hanging in her rosy face and she looked about as spooked as their horse did earlier, but still she smiled warmly at the three young teens. "Thank you so much for helping us," she said gratefully. "We were most worried about getting our grandkids to safety." As if on cue, two smaller faces appeared beside her. Two boys that looked to be no older than Talo grinned at them before the woman ushered them back inside the wagon.

The old man swung back into the seat of the wagon, reins already in his hands. "The wife and I really can't thank you kids enough," he said to them with a nod. "We'd be stranded here if it wasn't for you! Now you three get on to safety and stay away from that madman!" With that, he snapped the reins and the wagon surged forward. He bid them farewell as they headed in the direction of the Lanayru Province.

Link was already climbing back into the saddle. "We need to get to Kakariko," he stated.

Wordlessly, Reni and Onyx mounted the stallion; Reni motioned for Onyx to take the reins as she held her injured wrist close to her body. They took off with a sense of grave urgency. Link took the lead, but he kept them within his peripheral vision, his mind still spinning over the Triforce mark that he had just seen on this strange girl's hand. His brain insisted on trying to figure out how in the world it was possible for a fourth component of the Triforce to exist at all. But that was when he realized that his thoughts kept tracking back to Ganondorf. He thought of his possession of the Triforce of Power, and he remembered delivering the Ending Blow, defeating Ganondorf once and for all. He had never given any thought towards what would become of the Triforce of Power after his death. The only thing he ever really worried about was freeing Hyrule from the Dark Lord's terror. Now as Link thought of Reni and the mark on her hand, he wondered how probable it was for the Triforce of Power to find a new carrier after its current one ceased to exist. And if that was true, who exactly did that make Reni out to be? The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he mentally laid out the different possibilities, recalling how unbelievably powerful Ganondorf had been thanks to his portion of the Triforce. Reni was not someone that he should let out of his sight, he decided, at least for the time being. Over the past year he had learned that there was no such thing as being too careful, and until he got some answers, that was the way things needed to be right now.

Link pulled himself out of his thoughts immediately as they stopped at the gates that led to Kakariko Village. Both of the iron gates had been forced right off of their hinges, bent and resting crookedly against the sides of the crevice walls of the narrow path. Onyx's face had lost a little of its color as Link and Reni looked on with wide eyes. None of them spoke as they quickly moved forward. Link's internal alarm was clanging in his head; he drew the Master Sword and prepared himself for anything that might be lying around the corner.

The village looked as deserted as it had been after it had been shrouded by Twilight. After Link had restored light to the Eldin Province, people had begun inhabiting Kakariko Village once again along with the Gorons, but now the town lacked signs of anyone as the three of them rode vigilantly past the Eldin Spring. Instead, destruction was everywhere. Even from where they stopped beside the sanctuary, they could see damage that had been dealt to trees, fences, even houses. But the town was eerily silent.

"What in Din's name happened?" Onyx wondered aloud as he scowled at the condition of his hometown. "Where is everyone?"

"I've got a terrible feeling about this…" Reni muttered. "If he was really here like that man said, I'm worried he's moved on to terrorize some other place by now…"

Link frowned at Reni's hypothesis. "Well, maybe we should take a look around, make sure no one's hurt—"

"Link?"

The Hero whirled around at a new voice calling his name. His eyes darted back and forth across the desolate village in search for the source of the sound, eventually pausing on the sanctuary's window. At first he only saw empty darkness when he looked through it, but then he caught sight of red hair on a balding head. A welding mask soon appeared in the opening and a hand raised it to reveal a very surprised expression on a familiar narrow face.

"Link!" Barnes hissed. "Cripes, what're you doing bringin' your friends here, boy? Get in here!" His head vanished from the window.

Bewildered, Link immediately obeyed. He slid off of Epona and beckoned Reni and Onyx to follow him towards the front doors of the sanctuary. They heard Barnes slide back the deadbolt and he barely opened one of the doors just enough for the three young teens to slip inside. Barnes hurriedly slammed the door closed the second they were inside, enveloping the sanctuary in shadows as the sliver of daylight that crept in through the open door was shut out again. He slid the deadbolt back into place and spun on his heel to face Link, Reni and Onyx, his back against the doors as if he was trying to keep something from breaking them down.

"What're you doin' here?" Barnes cried. "It ain't safe here for you to just be prancing down the road with your friends!"

"What's going on?" Link wanted to know. "Where is everyone?"

Barnes stood upright and rushed past the three of them towards the middle of the large circular room. As Link turned to follow the man, he discovered that all of the room's candles had been lit, and in the dim light cast from their flames he could see that the large statue in the center of the room had been moved once again to reveal the passageway to the cellar below.

"Come on," Barnes finally said, stooping down to begin climbing the netting that led down into the cellar. "Renado sent me up here to make sure there wasn't anyone left outside before I sealed up the passage to the cellar for a while. I'll let him explain things to you."

Link proceeded to follow Barnes down the netting, but a fierce tug on the sleeve of his tunic pulled him back and he whirled around to face Reni and Onyx. Reni's bare left hand was clenching onto the green fabric at his upper arm, hints of her mysterious Triforce mark catching the candlelight. The swelling in her wrist had receded completely and the bruises had disappeared as if nothing had ever happened. The power of the Triforce must have healed it, he surmised. So that was what she had meant.

"Who is this guy?" Reni questioned him.

"It's okay," Link tried to assure her. "I know him. It's just Barnes. He's an okay guy."

That seemed to be enough to appease her and she nodded, letting go of Link's sleeve. The three of them quickly followed an impatiently waiting Barnes as they climbed down the netting towards the cellar below. The last time Link had been down here it had been dark and empty, but now as they each set foot on the dirt ground he saw that a few candles had been lit here as well as the light fixture above, and as he looked around he realized that the cellar was also full of almost a dozen people. They had all been cowering and whispering amongst themselves, but upon the newcomers' arrival they all fell silent as they turned their eyes in their direction.

"Look who I found out there, Renado!" Barnes called into the small crowd of people.

The tall shaman emerged from the crowd, surprise all over his face. "Link?" he called. "I have not seen you here in a long time." His expression darkened. "It is unfortunate we have to meet under these conditions."

"What's happening?" Link wanted to know.

"The village was attacked by some kind of… mad sorcerer," Renado answered slowly. "He seemed to have come out of nowhere, tearing the place apart in search of something, and anything standing in his way was simply collateral damage. Several villagers fled. I gathered anyone I could and brought them all here to take shelter until it was safe again."

"Did you see him?" Reni asked the shaman. "The sorcerer. Did he say anything?"

"Unfortunately, I only caught a brief glimpse of him myself, child," Renado replied, "but he spoke of only one thing. He spoke of finding the 'Chosen One.'" He looked back at Link again. "I believe he may have been speaking of you, Link."

"No," Reni growled. "He's looking for me." Several pairs of eyes turned to look at her in surprise, except for Onyx, who kept his eyes on the ground.

"You have dealt with him before?" Renado asked with a raised eyebrow.

Reni looked up at the shaman. "Only briefly. But I saw enough to know that—"

"Reni."

Although Onyx's voice had been as calm as ever, the exigency in that single word was enough to silence her instantly. She focused on his form in the candles' dark shadows, but before she could open her mouth to speak the sound of shattering porcelain rang out into the cellar's muggy atmosphere. Gasps and shouts erupted from a few of the villagers and Reni spun around to discover that an old pot had fallen from its shelf against the wall, smashing into the ground below. Perplexed, she gazed upward to where it had fallen from. A second pot tumbled down from the shelf as the third one bounced madly. The single light fixture hanging from the ceiling trembled and began swinging, casting ever-shifting shadows across everyone's panicked faces. Reni gasped and stepped backward, her gaze falling to the ground as growing tremors pulsated through it.

"Earthquake!" one of the villagers cried.

"We're dead!" Barnes declared hysterically.

Reni's head shot up and she met Onyx's solemn brown eyes. "No," she breathed. "He's here."

"Run!" Onyx shouted at the villagers, pointing at the netting that led back up into the sanctuary. "Everybody run!"

Screams and shrieks filled the cellar as the crowd stampeded towards the opening back into the sanctuary, tripping over each other as they pushed and shoved in their uproar. Reni could hardly stand up straight on the rumbling ground as she watched them go. Renado glanced at her over his shoulder before he quickly ushered his daughter Luda to follow the crowd, disappearing in the pandemonium. The ground shifted and Reni stumbled, blindly reaching to Onyx for support as she crashed into a different body – a boy clad in green who smelled faintly of evergreen trees.

"Link!" she exclaimed. "Get out of here!" She shoved him back towards the escaping villagers in attempt to get him to flee, but as she threw her weight against him the ground jerked violently, more pottery falling to its doom as the three remaining in the cellar toppled into each other. The clattering of tin, wood and sand assaulted their ears as the roof caved in with force. Daylight poured in from the back of the cellar, and then everything fell quiet.

"Finally, we meet again."

Reni, Link and Onyx looked up from where they had fallen there in the dirt ground at the sound of a low, tinny snarl of a voice before them. There in front of them, amongst the rubble from the roof above, stood a tall and skinny cloaked man, his narrow black eyes flashing at them underneath the hood drawn over his head. A mocking smirk played at the corners of his thin mouth.

Reni scrambled to her feet at once, her glare deadly as she swiftly drew her sword and shield in one motion, stepping out to stand in front of Onyx and Link. Her shield was poised to protect both herself and the two behind her.

"Menseki," Reni spat.

The cloaked man's smirk grew bolder. "I knew it was only a matter of time before I found you again." The ice in his emotionless voice seemed to chill the entire cellar. "Very foolish of you to leave your horse out in the open like that. It was a dead giveaway to where you were."

Reni's eyes widened for only a second before her face became a mask once more. "What did you do to him?" she demanded.

Menseki chuckled. "Nothing, dear Heroine," he answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "Your horse is not what I'm after. Neither are these feeble villagers who flee from me in terror. Why waste my time on them? I'm simply here to correct my mistake." An arm emerged from underneath his black cloak to reveal a scrawny arm clothed in violet garments, his sickeningly pale hand clenched around what looked like a sword that was missing its blade. Suddenly he thrust it up over his head as black and purple flames shot out from it. A sword of fire.

Foreign words spilled angrily from Menseki's mouth as he incanted, his other hand reaching up to grab the cursed sword's hilt as well to swing it down towards the ground. Projectiles of black magic shot in all directions. Reni bared her teeth as her ocean blue eyes darted all around the cellar, bouncing the projectiles hurtling towards off of her shield. She heard the sound of an unsheathing sword and Onyx jumped out from behind her with a shout of fury, both hands gripping his raised sword as he soared through the air towards the sorcerer. Menseki spotted him immediately and he flicked out a free hand, hastily incanting another spell. Onyx's battle cry was silenced as he felt hands he could not see take hold of his throat. His sword fell to the ground as he hung in mid-air, his own hands shooting up to his neck as he gasped desperately for oxygen, his feet kicking to reach soil again.

"I thought this boy had learned his lesson the first time," Menseki remarked as he apathetically eyed the struggling boy for a moment.

"Let him go."

Menseki's dark eyes shifted past Onyx with mild interest upon hearing a voice he did not recognize. He raised an eyebrow at the sound of a third sword unsheathing and a boy stepped out from behind Reni, the defiant stare in his sapphire eyes matching the girl's flawlessly. For a moment he stared in wonder at the illusion of seeing double, but then his mind pieced everything together for him. He flicked his outstretched hand once more. Onyx gasped as air filled his lungs, but before he could react any further he was suddenly plunged backwards past Link and Reni, hitting the ground behind them with a terrible _thud._

"This won't do!" Menseki snarled in disgust, eyeing Reni in contempt. "My mistake was a costly one! After finally finding the right dimension that would lead me to you, I should have known you would be drawn to meet your counterpart of this world!" The flames of his sword dissipated and his arms vanished underneath his cloak. His feet left the ground as he began to levitate towards the opening in the roof. "It is clear to me now. What opposes me from claiming these two kingdoms is not one Chosen Hero, but two." With that, he shot up through the opening in the roof and vanished.

Reni didn't waste a second. In a flash, she put away her sword and shield and spun on her heel, sliding to her knees beside the fallen Onyx, who was coughing and gasping for fresh air. "Onyx, are you okay?" she asked him anxiously as Link came up next to her.

"Yeah," the dark-haired boy replied after a few moments of taking in several deep breaths. "I'm not who we need to worry about." He coughed again, rubbing his neck, but then he made his way back onto his feet again and Reni stood as well. He gazed at the two Hylians standing in front of him. "Guys… what was he talking about?"

Reni was deep in thought. "His mistake… His mistake was failing to kill me. But… two kingdoms…?" She felt a hand grasp her upper arm and she looked with a start to find Link staring at her with an incredibly strange look on his face.

"Reni," the Hero said, his expression solemn. "I really think it's time to go see the Princess." He intentionally omitted Zelda's name in order to avoid another spat like last time. That was the last thing they needed right now.


	5. Chapter 4

_Author Notes: Thanks for reviewing, Amethyst 269. :] Please keep sending reviews. They encourage me a ton._

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**What Lies Beyond**

Chapter 4

Princess Zelda practically jumped up from her seat there on the throne, overreacting as she heard one of the oversized entrance doors swing open, a soft creaking bouncing off the opulent marble walls. She waited in anticipation before descending the stairs to see the face of her visitor, just to be sure it was who she hoped it was. It wasn't like Link to be late to any kind of appointment, especially when it came to meeting with the ruler of Hyrule. Although she knew Link was fully capable of taking care of himself, the past twenty-four hours had really put her on edge, and Link's tardiness was only making it worse.

Because Link was never late.

Something had to have delayed him. She only hoped it had been nothing too serious, but then again, for anything to delay Link it _had_ to be serious. The door opened wider and she watched three figures enter into the spacious room. Two of them she did not recognize, but the one swordsman in the green floppy hat grabbed her attention and urged her feet to carry her down the stairs.

"Link!" she exclaimed, the hem of her dress lightly crinkling against the floor as she moved gracefully down the steps to meet her visitors halfway. She was at least grateful to see that the Hero looked perfectly fine; no hints of misfortune on his way to the Castle, except for the strange look on his usually docile face.

Reni and Onyx both let out stifled gasps as they watched the Princess draw near to them and they both dropped to one knee, bowing their heads as Link remained unmoving, watching the elegant Hylian girl approach him. Since their battle together against Ganondorf, Link and Zelda had gotten to know each other during his stay in Castle Town before returning home to Ordon Village. He even went as far as considering them to be friends, especially after Zelda began insisting that he drop the greeting formalities and simply call her by name. Now as the two knelt behind him, he felt a little silly and he felt his ears grow hot.

"You two may rise," Princess Zelda acknowledged the two kneeling figures. "A friend of Link's is a friend of mine." She watched them as they stood upright again, and although neither the boy nor the girl met her gaze, she could see fair amounts of trepidation in their faces. The blonde girl looked as if she wanted to say something, but remained silent.

"I have been expecting you for quite some time, Link," Princess Zelda returned her attention to the young Hero, slight concern creasing her dainty brow. "Something delayed your arrival, I presume?"

Link nodded, still looking a bit uneasy as his sapphire eyes shifted towards Reni and Onyx for only a second before turning back to the Princess.

"Who are your friends?" Zelda wanted to know, following his brief glance towards the two she was not acquainted with.

Finally, Reni spoke up, looking absolutely offended as she lifted her eyes. "Your Highness!" she cried. "With all due respect, how can you say that? Surely it hasn't been so long that you don't recognize us!"

Zelda was taken aback by this blonde girl's outburst and she took a step back, eyeing her warily. She glanced toward Onyx, who stood dumbfounded as if Zelda had committed some kind of faux pas. It took a moment for her voice to be found again, as she tried to rack her mind for any forgotten memory that could possibly remind her of the identity of these strangers Link had brought into the Castle. "I am sorry," she eventually replied slowly, "I do not recall." She looked to Link for help, but he only looked just as mystified.

Her glance towards him prompted him to speak. "I found Reni lost in Faron Woods near the spring," he explained. "Onyx was lost, too, and found his way into Ordon that same night. Mayor Bo found him."

"And you found nothing else in the Woods?" Princess Zelda questioned him.

Link only bit his bottom lip, shaking his head.

Zelda sighed. It was time to explain. She knew this could very well be the beginning of something huge. "Listen to me carefully," she began, her voice lower than it had been, encouraging all three of them to look towards her. "Last night, the Light Spirit Faron came to me in a dream. Faron spoke to me of things that he did not have full knowledge of, but he came to me with a warning. There has been a great disturbance in Hyrule. Something has gained access to our kingdom from an outside world. Its point of entrance had been in the Woods. Faron had sensed three foreign spirits at the time. Two of good, and later on one of evil. But the Light Spirit had only sensed the spirit of evil moments before it vacated the Woods. The arrival of these spirits was what I felt that impelled me to write that letter to you, Link, asking you to investigate the Woods. At the time, I had hoped it was simply a misunderstanding, but Faron's manifestation in my dream only confirmed that it is indeed more."

Reni was hanging on every word Zelda spoke. "Princess," she said, "that evil spirit Faron sensed. I think that was Menseki."

Princess Zelda settled her gaze on the younger Hylian girl once more, her ears perked and eyebrows raised in interest.

Link's expression darkened at the sorcerer's name. "Menseki," he echoed. "We ran into him while he was terrorizing Kakariko Village."

"This was what delayed you?" Zelda surmised.

"He attacked us, but claimed he was after two kingdoms," Onyx put in.

"I already know he's after Hyrule," Reni added.

Zelda's eyebrows shot up a second time. "You already know?"

"This isn't the first time I've encountered him," the blonde girl explained. "He attacked Onyx and I yesterday while we were travelling across southern Hyrule Field. He knocked us both out and we believe he was the one that left us in that weird forest."

Zelda frowned. "That's strange. I heard of nothing happening in Hyrule Field yesterday."

"Menseki is a wielder of dark magic," said Onyx, "a strange dark magic that neither of us have ever really seen before. Nothing has really been right since he attacked us yesterday. Who knows what he's capable of?"

"That is what I was afraid of," Zelda remarked. "Dark magic was used to gain access to our kingdom. This… man… is from some kind of realm outside of ours. His magic is not from our world." Suddenly she froze as a thought arrived in her mind, dropping onto her like an anvil. She thought of Reni's explanation of how they ended up in Faron Woods, and she recalled the dream she had last night, remembering the Light Spirit's warning. Her eyes flickered over the two strangers, her gaze lingering on Reni in particular for a long time. She noted the girl's maroon tunic, her ocean blue eyes, the weapon sheathed behind her back, her pointed ears and short blonde hair. She noted how much this girl looked like someone she knew very well…

"Princess?" Reni called hesitantly, feeling intimidated under Zelda's intense gaze.

"I understand now who the two foreign spirits are," Zelda spoke almost cryptically.

"Link?" Reni took a guess at one of them.

Zelda gave a small chuckle despite the topic of conversation, but then stopped herself short, suddenly unsure whether or not the other girl was joking. "Of course not." She smiled briefly at the boy in question. "Faron would never consider Link's spirit to be foreign. He is Hyrule's own Hero of Light. He saved us all from the darkness."

Reni looked as if she had been slapped. "W-what?" she sputtered. "Please forgive me… that can't be right…! I was the one chosen by the gods to battle the shadows…"

"Her words are true," Onyx defended her. "I was with her for a good part of it."

"Reni…" Link was staring at her incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

Reni was at a loss for words, her mouth hanging open as she glanced back and forth between Link and Zelda. Eventually, her eyes stopped to meet Zelda's. "Nothing has been right since I was attacked yesterday and found myself in the forest." She was searching the older Hylian's face for answers. "Princess Adelina, please tell me you know what's going on."

A harsh silence dropped into the room. Now it was Princess Zelda's turn to stare in disbelief. "I beg your pardon?" she said, uncertain if she should be offended. "If I may ask, who is Adelina?"

Reni practically lost it while Onyx looked mortified. She was at her wits' end and she was tired of not understanding what in the world was going on. "I demand to know what is happening here! Reveal yourself, clone, and tell me what you've done with Princess Adelina!"

"Reni!" Link and Onyx both chided.

"Silence!" Zelda raised a gloved hand, quieting the entire room in an instant. Reni bit her tongue and cast her eyes downward away from the Princess, squeezing her fists at her sides. "I will not condone this kind of talk in my presence!" the Princess continued. "I am sorry to say that I am not this Adelina you speak of. However I am the ruler of this country and I will not tolerate being spoken to in that manner. Do I make myself clear?"

The three of them before her remained quiet.

She waited a few beats before she continued to touch on the previous subject. "I believe the two foreign spirits of good that Faron spoke of," she went on, staring down Reni and Onyx, "were the two of you."

Startled blue and brown eyes all shot up to look at her in surprise. "What? Why would we be considered foreign?" Onyx inquired in confusion.

Princess Zelda's hand went up to rest underneath her chin, her expression pensive. "I believe this man's presence has set many things in our kingdom off balance," was all she said. But Link could see in her face that there was more than that, especially when he realized that her statement didn't really answer Onyx's question at all.

"But, Zelda," the young Hero persisted, "look what Reni has." He took Reni's left hand – she flinched at his unexpected touch – and he held it up for the Princess to see.

Princess Zelda's gaze promptly fell upon the blonde girl's hand, and she let out an audible gasp at what her eyes saw. "The mark of the Triforce," she breathed.

"The Triforce of Courage," Reni confirmed with a nod.

Link's head whipped around to stare at her in shock, her hand slipping out of his grasp as he gaped at her. For a while Princess Zelda's expression corresponded with the astonishment on Link's face, but then she took another step back and heaved a long sigh, suddenly looking weary as she cast her eyes away from them.

"I… I don't understand," Link spoke again, incredibly bothered by the symbol on this newcomer's hand even more now than he had been in the first place. The Triforce of Power was one thing, but a second Triforce of Courage? That was just unheard of! He glanced down to inspect his own hand, although it was clad once again in leather. "There are two…?"

Princess Zelda turned back to the trio to be met with three pairs of eyes staring back in bewilderment. "Where do I begin?" she asked. She took in a breath, organizing her thoughts. "This second symbol of the Triforce of Courage confirms my suspicions. This changes everything."

"Does it explain what's going on?" Onyx questioned.

Princess Zelda's expression had become blank. "Menseki is not only from another world, he is from another dimension entirely."

Reni was shaking her head, struggling to comprehend Princess Zelda's statement. "What? I'm sorry… that's crazy… Another dimension? Of what? Of Hyrule?"

For a moment, Zelda looked a bit amused at Reni's comment. "Tell me," she addressed the three again, "have you ever given any thought to what lies beyond the world we live in? Beyond what we know? Beyond this universe… through space and time?"

Link and Reni exchanged looks of uncertainty before they all slowly shook their heads.

A small smile graced Princess Zelda's lips. "Of course not. Naturally, we give scarce consideration towards what lies beyond because we are seldom given any reason to do so. But regardless, there are countless dimensions of the world we know, all co-existing," she frowned, "but never meant to intermingle. Reni, your mark of the Triforce of Courage confirms that you and Onyx are from the same dimension as Menseki. You were taken out of the world you know and placed into ours by his doing, which means that we honestly have no idea how powerful he actually is if he has truly harnessed the power of bending space and time. But this is why nothing here seems right to you. That is why so many things make little sense to you. I assume you know this Adelina as the Princess of Hyrule?"

Reni was rendered speechless, standing stock-still in horror as she listened, barely believing a word Zelda spoke. Onyx was gaping, but had managed a small nod in his shock.

"Just as I thought," said Zelda. "The people you know are all different alterations of us. The various dimensions of Hyrule are all different alterations of each other, forming from different results of turning points in the kingdom's history and fate, forming from all kinds of different possibilities, which are all practically endless. You two are simply part of another dimension, and you were somehow brought here into ours."

Link found himself looking over at Reni again in disbelief. He was slowly piecing things together. "So this explains how she and I…?"

"Yes, Link. You are both heroes chosen by the gods in your own respective dimensions. You both wield the Triforce of Courage. What explains the Master Swords you both brandish? What explains the Hero's Clothes you both wear? What explains your striking resemblance to each other? You two are simply different alterations of each other. In essence, just as Adelina and I are the same person, you and Reni are both the same person."

Link had never heard a silence so loud. He tried to move, tried to speak, but the gravity of this discovery was sinking into his stomach like a brick, paralyzing him. Different dimensions? Two versions of the same person? Onyx was gawking at Reni, and his mouth moved several times but he failed to utter a comprehensive word. Link's eyes were gradually drawn to look over at Reni again, only to see that her ocean blue eyes were already pinned on him and they were as wide as dinner plates. Her jaw was hanging open again and the color had drained from her face. He realized his expression matched hers and the impression of staring into a mirror nearly took his breath away as it combined with the fact that she really _was _his mirror image.

"Please," Princess Zelda spoke again, her soft voice too loud in the vastness of the throne room, "I know this is a very troubling revelation, but we can't lose sight of the danger this man is imposing on this kingdom… and beyond this kingdom for that matter. To your kingdom as well, Reni. He must be after both forms of Hyrule. This sets everything off balance. We must make it right again."

Reni finally broke away from Link's stare at the sound of her name, but words still failed to form at her open lips. She nodded stiffly. Onyx rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Evening is falling," Princess Zelda remarked, stepping over towards the nearest window, the warm light of the western sun casting a glow on her porcelain face as she looked outside. "I insist that the three of you stay here in the Castle for the night and begin your journey in the morning. The stable-hand will tend to your horses and I will have the finest guest chambers prepared for your stay. The guards outside can escort you." She assumed their silence was their consent. Reni and Onyx offered vague bows as the three of them turned to leave the room. Princess Zelda suddenly reached out, her fingers barely pulling on the hem of Link's sleeve. He stopped and those bright sapphire eyes swung inquisitively in her direction one last time, still looking a bit dazed. "Please be careful," she requested. "The world was never meant to maintain two Triforces of Courage. There is no way to tell what could result from the Triforce's imbalance."

* * *

Link heaved a long sigh as he sat heavily on the bed of his guest chambers, surveying the room in slight interest. It was the first time he had ever stayed overnight in the Castle as a guest of the Princess. The room he had been escorted to was surprisingly large and the room's elegant décor matched that of the rest of the Castle. It made Link feel small and unfit to stay in such a finely dressed room. The bed he was now sinking into had to be at least queen-sized, maybe even king-sized. It had been situated in the center of the wall furthest from the door, with two windows on either side and a third one in the middle of the adjacent wall. There was also a wooden desk and a chair in one corner of the room, a matching dresser in another corner and nightstand at his bedside. All of this made Link miss the simplicity of his own home back in Ordon, but he was never one to complain. Abandoning his sword and shield on the carpeted floor along with his gauntlets and gloves on the nightstand, he fell back into the bed's white down comforter and let his eyes stare unfocused at the tall tray ceiling. He could see the evening sunlight trying to slink into the room through the closed curtains, trying earnestly to reach out just enough to caress him as he lay just past the rays' touch. He only let out another drawn-out sigh and shut out the inviting daylight as he closed his eyes. And his mind buzzed with commotion.

Reni had been quiet ever since the revelation that Menseki had broken the barriers of inter-dimensional travel and had taken her and Onyx along for the ride. Her expression had remained vacant, albeit more withdrawn than usual. Guards directed them to three guest bedrooms all next to each other where servants were awaiting their arrival to offer them supper. And while all three of them accepted, Reni had spoken no more than a quiet utterance of appreciation when she tipped the servant with a yellow Rupee. She smiled at the servant's amazement at her generosity as he stumbled over his words in attempt to thank her, but then she disappeared into her room. Onyx, who Link had perceived to be a little on the taciturn side, said nothing as he nodded his farewell to the Hero and turned in for the night. He knew there was no way Link could relate to how they were probably feeling right now. Being miles and miles from home was indeed something Link was very familiar with; he had even set foot in an entirely different realm from the one in which he belonged. However, he was pretty sure that neither of those experiences compared to what it felt like to cross the threshold of a completely different dimension only to encounter different versions of people he knew.

His eyes shot open onto to be greeted again by the unchanging aloofness of the ceiling above him. The concept of meeting an alternate version of himself wouldn't let him rest. He wondered if this was what it felt like to discover a long lost twin sister or if this was how Princess Zelda felt when she first interacted with Midna, her shadow counterpart from the Twilight Realm. But then he huffed and shook his head. No, it wasn't the same. It couldn't be. Twins shared the same physical appearance, but they were still two different identities. Zelda and Midna both held the same ranking in their respective realms, but they were still two different identities. This was unlike either instance. Reni wasn't someone who was just like him. Reni _was _him. And he was Reni. They shared one identity. It was a concept that didn't sit well with him, and he wondered how Reni was coping with it. Sympathy for the girl welled up inside of him and he stood to make his way towards the door. Perhaps he would feel a little better about the whole situation if he just made sure she was all right.

The walk to Reni's door seemed a lot longer than it should have been as he headed slowly down the hallway. He came to a stop outside of her guest chambers, suddenly feeling restless as he remembered how she had reacted towards Princess Zelda earlier this evening. But after realizing he had been standing there at her doorstep for a number of seconds unmoving, he hesitantly knocked, half-expecting her not to answer. After several moments continued to pass with no response, he assumed he was right and he turned to go, but then her muffled voice reached his ears through the door. "It's unlocked."

The young Hero took in a deep breath as he slowly let himself inside, closing the door gently behind him. Reni's guest chambers looked exactly like his, but Reni had drawn the curtains away from the window, letting the amber sunlight pour into the room. She was perched on top of the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest as she stared, motionless, outside the window. She didn't move, nor did she greet him.

Link shifted his weight uncomfortably, swallowing hard as he scratched the back of his neck. "Hey," he managed to say, trying not to sound as awkward as he felt.

"Hey, Link," Reni murmured without turning to him. A few seconds passed. Then, "You can have a seat over here if you'd like."

Her invitation relieved some of his uneasiness and he relaxed slightly as he made his way towards the bed, sitting at the very edge of it and giving her proper distance. "How… how are you?" he asked after a while. He knew that the discovery they had just made was extremely unsettling to him, but he couldn't even imagine how she felt. He couldn't imagine what it was like to suddenly wake up in an entirely different world where the places were all familiar but the people were all wrong. And then on top of that she met a boy – she met Link – who was just like her, who was her opposite gender, but perfectly matched in ability, status, experience, and knowledge.

Reni still didn't look away. "I'm all right," she said slowly.

Link gazed at her profile for a moment, but ended up staring down at his boots instead. It was such a disturbing feeling to look at a girl who was practically his mirror image now that he knew the truth behind it. Silence as thick as butter pressed in around them and it rang in Link's ears. He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he eventually forced himself to look back in her direction. After all, he had come to see her and make sure she was all right. Much to his surprise, when he lifted his eyes he found her gazing at him intently. His face grew warm as he tried to decide whether to meet her eyes or look away.

"So I'm… you," she finally broke the silence, her voice low, her face expressionless.

Link nodded. "And I'm you," he added softly, surprised at how easy it was for him to make that statement.

He watched her carefully as her ocean blue eyes idly traveled around the room. "This is kind of hard to come to terms with," she admitted, frowning ever-so-slightly.

The Hero only gave her another nod, absentmindedly playing with his hands.

"So," she said, her voice taking on a more thoughtful tone, "tell me… hero chosen by the gods. Did you fight the Twilight?"

Another nod.

"And… Ganondorf? And Zant?"

Another nod.

"That's when you found the Master Sword, isn't it?"

Another nod.

"Did you get help from the imp Twilight Prince?"

Link started to nod, but then he caught himself and stopped to look at her. "Twilight Princess," he corrected her. "Midna…" It wasn't until he actually spoke her name and heard the twinge of bitterness in his voice that he realized he never did quite forgive her for shattering the Mirror of Twilight.

"Oh…" Reni murmured. Finally, she had found a discrepancy in their dimensions. Whether that had been her intention or not, Link wasn't sure, but she didn't dwell on it for long. "It's weird," she said, "thinking about how things are different… yet the same… with you and me." She paused. "I hope the Princess forgives me for my outburst earlier. I'm sorry for being so short with you when we met in the Woods. Honestly, I was pretty spooked because the first thing I noticed was how much you looked just like me…" She trailed off, taking vague interest in a loose thread in the bedspread.

"It's okay," Link replied, watching her pull at the strand. "A lot of things make sense now that didn't before."

Reni made a noise that Link understood as a sound of agreement, but then a hush settled in again, although this time it wasn't quite as tense or awkward. But then the hand he had been watching suddenly made its way over to his left hand, resting lightly on top of it. His back went rigid and he felt his face grow hot again.

"Feels weird to touch you," she said with a trace of amusement.

He looked up at her, hoping that the rosy hue in his cheeks had faded enough to slip past her attention. "What do you mean?" he wanted to know.

She slipped her hand beneath his and lifted them both up until she could press an open palm against his open palm. She held up her other hand, palm outward, and waited for Link to do the same against hers. "It's like I'm looking at my reflection," she explained, observing the sight of her own hands against the hands of her male counterpart. "What's weird is that I feel like I'm looking in a mirror, but when I touch you it's like I'm reaching through the glass and actually touching my reflection."

Link's attention had been fixed upon their hands as well. He understood exactly what she was conveying. He nodded. It was surreal. He felt Reni's hands shift as she moved her fingers to gradually entwine with his, exploring the sensation of making contact with her "reflection." But only a second slipped by before they realized what exactly they were doing and they snatched their hands back at once, their faces bright red as they quickly looked away from each other.

"Sorry…" Reni mumbled shyly.

Link shook his head, although the action went on unseen. "S'okay," he muttered. "Don't be." He took a minute before he dared to turn back in her direction, and he found her observing the backs of her hands as they lay in her lap. Both of her arms were now void of gauntlets and gloves and she was studying her mark of the Triforce, seemingly lost in thought.

She felt his eyes on her. "Was your mark there since you were born?" she asked abruptly.

Her question caused him to look down at his own hands. He shrugged. "For as long as I can remember at least," he told her.

"Marla told me she never noticed it until I was ten or so. She's the mayor's wife. She looked after me most of the time when I was really young." She smiled wistfully at the thought of her adopted mother. She was ready to face Link again, so she turned back to him. "We've got two Triforces of Courage in one dimension now, though. I bet that kind of throws everything off…"

Link grinned a little. "Well, maybe they could work together," he suggested. He reached out with his left hand towards her left hand to pat it with friendly encouragement. But he never felt the touch of her skin as they made contact. Instead his mark exploded with raw pain, racing angrily through his veins. He cried out in anguish and he hazily heard Reni gasp as he was suddenly plummeted into darkness.

_FLASH!_

Everything around him had warped. He was running. No, he was crawling. Dead, blackened trees surrounded him. They only seemed to multiply as he moved past them at an incredible speed. He was after something. That something was right in front of him, dodging expertly each time he attacked. It sparked brilliantly with a white light, a violent contrast against the shadowy graveyard of a forest he had found himself in. This was familiar. The forest was familiar. The insect he was closing in on was too familiar. The weight on his back was unbelievably familiar.

He growled.

He realized he wasn't crawling.

He was a wolf. He was in the Twilight. He was after the Tears of Light.

He glanced back at the being currently gripping his fur in its small hands, its legs clamped tightly around his broad, beastly shoulders. The sight his canine eyes were met with made him yelp in shock and he lost his footing in the forest's muddy grass, tripping over an overgrown tree root that sent him hurtling into the dirt face-first. His pointed ears picked up on a heated shout as the weight was flung from his back and into the shrub he had just narrowly missed. For a moment, he did not move. His jumbled mind was reeling.

Then the creature that had been riding on his back jumped out of the shrub in a fit of fury. He recognized the Fused Shadow, but the creature wearing it was not a fuming imp girl.

It was an angry imp boy. And that boy was shouting Reni's name at him.

Everything suddenly retreated away from him as if someone was pulling a giant rug out from underneath his paws. The shooting pain returned twofold and he howled in distress. His senses shifted violently and the shout of his own human voice intermingled with the cry of the sacred beast until it drowned it out completely, leaving him sitting once again at the edge of Reni's bed, desperately struggling to catch his breath. A strange stillness settled into the room once more as his sapphire eyes darted around to take in his environment. Everything was just as it was minutes ago. But his Triforce was aching.

He took another moment to gather himself before he turned to look at Reni. At some point during that demented flashback, she had backed away from him, but her face was withdrawn again and she was panting lightly, her blue eyes fixed on a point somewhere in empty space, holding a fair amount of disorientation. She was holding her left hand in her right.

"Reni—" His mouth was dry and his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "Reni?"

Reni shook her head and seemed to snap back into reality, gazing back up at him with a start. "Link?" she replied hesitantly. "What just happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just a little creeped out, that's all. Some kind of strange… vision…"

He studied her for a moment, quickly realizing that he wasn't the only one experiencing these altered flashbacks. "That wasn't the first time that's happened to you, is it?" he ventured.

She shook her head again, her body slowly relaxing as both of their breathing patterns gradually returned to normal.

"What did you see, Reni?"

"This time?" She paused, thinking. "I was in the Twilight," she recalled. "I was hunting for the Tears of Light. But it wasn't right. Just like it wasn't right the first time. The Twilight Prince… it was a girl. And she said your name…"

"Midna," Link breathed, shocked. "You saw Midna? That means I think I saw… I think I saw your imp Twilight Prince. He said your name…"

Reni's blue eyes widened. "You mean you're seeing things, too?"

The Hero nodded. "I thought it was just me at first."

"This has been happening since I met you in Faron Woods."

"But why…?" The blonde boy glanced down at his mark once more, and found it glowing faintly. The sight triggered an idea that started growing rapidly. He jumped up to his feet. "Reni, let me see your Triforce."

She rose up to stand beside him and she held her hand out for him. Just as he thought. It was acting the same way his was.

"What's going on?" the blonde girl wanted to know.

"Quick, do me a favor," Link requested, earning a funny look in return. "I think I might know what's going on. I wanna try something, okay?" He received a nod, so he continued. "Think of a memory. A recent one. Think of something that happened… maybe sometime when you were fighting the Twilight."

Reni hardly paused to contemplate. "I remember fighting the Shadow Kargarok at Lake Hylia."

"Good. Me too. Now just bear with me for a second…" And before she could object, he reached out and grabbed her left hand with his. He heard Reni cry out, and then the pain came again.

_FLASH!_

Darkness was everywhere. His four paws beat down heavily against the damp shore of a shriveling haunted lake. A winged black beast was soaring around his head as its master showered him with angry flaming arrows.

And so he killed its master with ease. It was a Bulblin that had been warped by Twilight.

His mind told him what was going to happen next. But it was not Midna who rose to tame the Shadow Kargarok. It was the imp boy, and he looked down at Link from his place upon the huge demon bird's back, impatiently calling Reni's name.

This time he felt it coming. He tried to brace himself as he felt like he was being yanked out of his wolf form and brutally shoved back into his human body, the force driving him to his knees there on the bedroom's carpet floor. His limbs felt numb but his left hand was on fire, and for a moment he was unable to lift his head as he focused on steadying his wild heartbeat. Sweet silence returned and he listened to it gratefully as he organized his mind again before looking up to see what had become of Reni. His counterpart's back was up against the wall and she was leaning against it heavily as she took in several deep breaths, but her eyes were fixed on her Triforce mark.

"Reni?"

She took a step forward as he slowly lifted himself onto his feet again. "I just saw the memory you had me recall," she began, "but it wasn't right. In fact… I don't think it was really my memory at all." Her eyes widened again. "I think it was… yours." She approached him and reached out to snatch up his right hand for a second, wincing as she half-expected another flashback. Nothing. "Link," she said, "this only happens when the Triforces touch."

"Princess Zelda said the world was never meant to have two Triforces of Courage existing together," Link remembered. "It throws the entire Triforce out of balance. She said she had no idea what could happen. I think they're… reacting to each other somehow. It doesn't know what to do when it meets itself."

Her gaze flickered back and forth between his hands and hers. "What does that mean for us? And for the Triforce?"

But her question only hung in the air, unanswered, as Link shrugged faintly.

* * *

It was dark. The glow of the village torches waltzed with the moonlight's pale hue, casting looming shadows across the rooftops and the surface of the coursing river. A tall, slender figure hung back in those shadows. He had been there for quite some time now, watching as the village slowly went to sleep for the night, falling into silence save for the flowing water beside him and the crackling torches all around him. He had been waiting. The time had to be right. He couldn't risk being seen. But he wasn't worried. No, that wouldn't be a problem here. This village was naïve and oblivious. It had no resistance, no night watchmen. It was vulnerable. There were several other places with thicker nighttime surveillance that would require more extensive planning than this. Maybe he could be a little worried then, but not now.

He glared up at the glowing flame of the torch nearest him, squinting in its harsh light. With a huff, he flicked out a hand from underneath his cloak, muttering under his breath. Instantly, the fire was vanquished as if someone had put it out with a snuffer. The shadows overtook the area where he stood, surrounding him in true darkness. He smirked to himself. Much better. He knew the threat this village posed was next to none, but precautions were always wise. He emerged from behind the cluster of evergreens that had been his hiding place, approaching a large boulder nestled in the ground as his cloak fell from his extended arm. In his hand was a large, diamond-shaped stone that was as black as the night sky. His dark eyes admired it as if it was a rare gem and his sneer surfaced again.

He spoke, his voice a low rumble, "Old stone of sorcery, I command the power of ancient magic to spawn within you once again."

Obediently, the stone in his hand gave off an eerie violet glow, illuminating the cracks and carvings in its smooth surface until the outlines of symbols began to form. His eyes were fixed onto the symbols of the stone as he chanted aggressively, his pale face twisting into a dark leer as he pressed the glowing stone against the boulder's jagged surface. And as if the two rocks were malleable, the diamond-shaped stone began to merge with the boulder, humming and vibrating as it melted into the surface it was up against. His haunting mantra went on, escalating in volume as he pressed harder and harder. Then without warning he fell silent, observing his outstretched hand as it lay with fingers spread against the cold surface of the boulder in front of him. His hand dropped back to his side, hiding once again underneath his cloak. Any trace of his stone was gone. The smirk returned again. His task was complete. And so he vanished.

"Malo! Did you hear that?"

An aggravated sigh. "No, Talo, I'm trying to sleep."

"I heard a noise outside, I swear!" Talo practically bolted out from underneath his blankets, jumping up onto his knees there on the bed to peek out the bedroom window, his eyes darting about curiously. "Look! One of the torches outside went out! Isn't that weird?"

"Oh, shut up and go to sleep," Malo huffed, rolling his eyes although it went on unseen in the darkness of the room.

Talo grunted as he scanned the scenery outside, but then sighed in disappointment when he found nothing else out of the ordinary. "Oh, you're no fun sometimes, Malo," he complained as he shimmied back underneath the blankets, his curiosity unsatisfied.


	6. Chapter 5

_Author Notes: ellehciM and Avenged Soul – Fire, thanks for the epic reviews. Sorry this chapter took so long to get out, it was definitely the most challenging so far. Heaven knows how frustrated I got. But at least it's here now! Please R&R. :)_

* * *

**What Lies Beyond**

Chapter 5

The sound of distant voices wafted into Link's bedroom chambers, waking him slowly. He laid there for a few moments curled up in the thick comforter, blinking away the sleep from his eyes as the remnants of last night's dream faded from his thoughts. He idly glanced down at the position of the sunlight on the carpet floor that was barely slipping in past the curtains to find that it was still very early morning. The voices spoke again from out in the hallway as he stretched, and this time his ears picked up on his name, sobering his sleepy mind. Quickly he rose up out of bed, running his fingers through his hair as he went towards the door to see what the commotion was about. But the voices had halted before he peeked outside, and he only found Onyx standing a short distance from his room. The dark-haired boy's back was towards him; he was stooped over and leaning his elbows on the banister where the corridor opened up to reveal a view of the floor below. Quietly closing the door behind him, Link curiously joined Onyx where he stood, mimicking his position.

"'Morning," Onyx greeted the Hero without moving.

"'Morning," Link returned.

Those two words hung in the air as silence settled in between them. Link studied Onyx in his peripheral vision, whose chocolate brown eyes had settled on a large window in the distance that overlooked the Castle's courtyard. He found himself speculating on who Onyx's counterpart was here in this dimension. He certainly didn't resemble anyone around here, or at least not anyone Link had ever met. He remembered that Reni had referred to Onyx as her best friend. Who was his best friend? Ilia, of course. But as far as Link could tell, Ilia and Onyx had nothing in common. Ilia was a simple farm girl who loved horses and knew very little of life outside of Ordon Village. She was a year younger than Link, she was very opinionated at times, and had definitely never handled a sword before. Onyx, on the other hand, was a native of Kakariko Village, although his clothing did seem to vaguely resemble traditional Ordon garb. But Onyx was an adventurer, having joined Reni on a lot of her quests. Link regarded the blade sheathed at Onyx's side – it resembled the Ordon sword he himself had wielded until he found the Master Sword, and was surely a weapon he could never picture in Ilia's possession. Then if Ilia was not his counterpart, who was? Link wondered if perhaps Onyx's counterpart did not exist here.

"Reni should be ready to go soon," Onyx suddenly spoke into the silence.

Link only nodded, setting his speculations of Onyx's counterpart aside.

"I talked with her right before you came out here," Onyx informed him. "We're both hoping for an early start. We need to put a stop to that madman and get back home."

The mention of Menseki set Link's thoughts in a different direction. He remained silent, but his expression clouded over.

Onyx glanced over at the blonde before turning around to lean back against the banister, letting out a long sigh. He slowly lifted his gaze towards the ceiling before he spoke again. "He was assaulting Ordon when we first ran into him."

Link's head snapped over towards Onyx and his eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Reni and I were heading out to Ordon Spring one night when we caught Menseki up to something or other in the Woods. We never got to find out what exactly because he attacked us as soon as he saw us. He already knew Reni was the Chosen Heroine, and he made it clear what he wanted. We drove him out of the Woods but he went on a rampage in the Village, a lot like he did here in Kakariko. Thankfully, none of the villagers were seriously hurt, but he mysteriously fled before we could put an end to him. That next morning we set out to warn Princess Adelina, but he ambushed us in Hyrule Field, and apparently that's how we ended up here."

"Why hasn't Reni told me that?" Link wanted to know.

Onyx shrugged, looking back towards him. "Does it matter?" he asked neutrally. Another one of his vague grins pulled at a corner of his mouth. "When it comes to things like this, sometimes Reni doesn't share a lot of information with people she doesn't know very well. Don't take it personally."

Link's sapphire eyes trailed back to his hands as they hung loosely over the edge of the banister. "You know her well." It was meant to be a guess, but it sounded more like a statement.

Onyx's grin became more evident. "Grew up with her since I moved to Ordon," he said. "She's a handful."

Link raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

The dark-haired swordsman shook his head, but the smirk remained. "If you two didn't look so much alike, I'd never guess you guys were the same person. You seem to keep to yourself most of the time. Reni's pretty aggressive, and she really speaks her mind."

"I see that," the blonde muttered, recalling Reni's reaction towards him when they had first met in Faron Woods. That had been… interesting.

"There's a lot of courage in that girl, though," Onyx went on. "That's something I know you two have in common."

Link glanced over at him. "You seem to be doing okay with being a whole dimension away from home," he remarked. To be honest, Onyx's display of emotion had been almost non-existent since his arrival.

"Don't doubt me when I tell you how strange it feels to seem like I'm home when I'm really not." Some kind of dark, negative emotion had passed over the features of his face. He was quiet for a few moments before he crossed his arms. "It's a very… eerie feeling that isn't right at all. My main concern is taking care of Menseki and finding our way back home so things can be right again."

Link gave him a nod in understanding. He expected his lack of a verbal response would signal the end of their conversation, but after a few seconds Onyx spoke again.

"By the way," he said lightly, "a servant came up to deliver a letter to you while I was waiting out here. He was worried about waking you, so I said I'd hold onto it until you were up."

Link glanced over in interest to find Onyx holding out a plain white envelope. He accepted it hesitantly and thanked him, wondering what kind of letter could possibly be important enough to be delivered to him here at the Castle. Swiftly, he tore the envelope open.

_Link,  
__I apologize for any inconvenience this letter might bring to you, as I know you are busy. But things have not been right here in Kakariko since your last visit. Strange things have been happening that are beyond even my understanding. I wanted to contact you because I firmly believe these things are tied to the sorcerer who ransacked our village and attacked you. These things are quickly worsening. It is wise for us here to lay low for now, so you will find me in the sanctuary.  
__Renado_

The Hero eyed the other boy just over the top of his letter. Onyx's arms were still crossed and his stare was set towards Reni's closed bedroom door. Link suspected that the voices that woke him had belonged to Onyx and the servant, or maybe Reni… or both. But why did Onyx wait so long to hand over the letter?

"'Morning, Reni," Onyx suddenly called with a smile.

Link lowered the letter to see Reni stepping out from her room, fully equipped. She still had an air of unease about her, but she smiled at them both as she joined them in the hallway.

"Good morning," she said to them. "I'm ready. Are you?"

The content of Renado's letter was still fresh in Link's mind. "We need to go to Kakariko," he announced.

Reni frowned at the concern on her counterpart's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure yet," he answered. "Something isn't right. We need to go."

Reni didn't question his motive. She set off down the hallway with Link and Onyx right behind.

* * *

Link had never missed the ability to warp as much as he did now. Hyrule Field seemed to stretch on endlessly as he traversed through the grasslands, thankfully with the help of his mare who was galloping at full speed. His body was rigid and his jaw was set in determination as he rode in silence. He could hear the thundering hooves of the black stallion close behind him, but he kept himself focused on the path ahead that led to the Eldin Province. He was reminded of their journey to Kakariko Village yesterday and their run-in with the escaping family and their unpleasant encounter with Menseki himself. The uncertainty of what exactly they were dealing with was still churning in the pit of his stomach and he hated it. His shadow was no longer a refuge for a certain imp girl who seemed to have knowledge in all the areas where his own knowledge lacked. He could almost hear her curt voice in his ear, pushing him to go faster and scoffing at his unfamiliarity with what they were up against. He figured she would have something smart to say about Menseki's conduct, or something to complain about concerning Renado's letter. But his shadow was as silent as it had been since Midna left, obediently imitating his each and every move in the sunlight.

He missed her.

As they rounded the lazy bend of the crevice of eastern Hyrule Field that led them down towards Kakariko Village, Epona snorted as her head jerked back and her rhythm suddenly faltered. The stallion behind them let out an alarmed whinny as Epona skidded to an uncomfortable halt. A bewildered Link clung to her tightly as she reared up onto her hind legs, her ears pressed back against her head. The black steed reared as well as he neighed in fright, startling his two riders.

"Whoa, boy!" Reni cried out, gripping firmly on the stallion's reins as she felt Onyx grip her waist to avoid toppling off. "What's wrong?" She nudged the horse with her heels, but he only swung his head back in agitation and for a moment acted as if he was going to take off in the opposite direction. "What in Din's name—"

"Guys," Onyx called to the two heroes, his brown eyes fixed in the direction ahead of them. "Look." He raised a pointed finger.

Just a short distance ahead should have been a clear view of Eldin Spring. Beside the Spring should have been the sight of the sanctuary peeking around the corner. But they could see nothing past the thick blanket of purple fog that was now nestled in the entrance to Kakariko Village. It strongly reminded Link of the mist that he had seen plaguing a good portion of the Faron Woods.

Epona was grunting again, nervously digging a hoof into the ground, her ears still tense. Link had never seen her act this way before. Sure, she had been spooked many times by an ambush of Leevers or Kargaroks or Bokoblins, but never had she been this agitated, especially by something Link couldn't even see. He nudged her in the sides, but she did not obey. If anything, she took a few steps backwards.

"Something's definitely wrong," Reni stated as she climbed off of her steed. "The horses can sense it. Let's go check things out."

Leaving the two horses behind, the young teens continued their way forward as they ventured into the purple haze. Link drew his sword as they came around the last corner into the village; the feel of the blade's hilt in his hand gave him a stronger sense of safety. He heard Reni and Onyx beside him unsheathe their weapons as well. The fog only stretched on before them, limiting their vision to a circumference of a mere few feet and blanketing the village in an uncanny silence. Link strained his ears to listen for anything beyond their footsteps in the dirt path, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"This is too weird," Reni remarked, pausing for another futile attempt at seeing though this strange haze.

"Come on," Link beckoned the other two. "Renado said he was staying in the sanctuary. I think it's over here…" He blindly took a step towards the direction he hoped the sanctuary was in, but as that single step came down to meet the dirt, it crunched with the stomach-turning sound of bone against bone. His head jerked up with a gasp only to find himself staring right into the dark, hollow eye sockets of a towering Stalfos, its jaw hanging open in a hiss as it raised its sword to strike.

The Hylian Shield was on his arm in an instant as it absorbed the force of the attack only inches away from his face. But he didn't even flinch. His grip on the Master Sword tightened and he swung out in retaliation as the Stalfos turned to strike again. But then a shout of determination suddenly reverberated off the thick fog mass around him, ringing in his ears as he saw his sword's twin cut through the very center of the skeleton's body, severing it in half. Instantly the Stalfos crumbled to the ground like someone had cut the strings off a marionette. Link lowered his sword and shield in surprise for a moment before turning to thank Reni, but before he could speak or make any move to permanently eliminate the Stalfos he felt her hand clamp over his wrist.

"Come on," Reni hissed, her ocean blue eyes focused somewhere beyond Link's shoulder. She had reached out to take Onyx's arm as well. "There are more out here. We should stick together… let's go."

Link felt like they were being watched as he guided them towards the sanctuary, relying solely on his instincts as they kept their hands interlinked to keep from losing each other in the thickness of the fog. Reni had indeed been right. They were not alone; Onyx narrowly missed the attack of another Stalfos that had been concealed in the fog, but as Link concentrated on blindly navigating the village he did not see the long, bony arm that protruded from the haze and took his sword arm in a death grip. His hold on Reni's hand broke as the skeletal arm yanked him away from his companions and he lost sight of them. The fog dissipated around him enough to reveal the skull of his assailant as it seemed to leer at him. With his left arm incapacitated, he could not draw his sword again and he regretted sheathing it, but yet he still had access to his shield. He bared his teeth as he expertly thrust a shield attack into the skeleton's face until he heard the skull crack and the clutch on his arm loosened. He took that opportunity to unsheathe his sword and he used both hands to wedge it through the Stalfos' ribcage, twisting the blade to shatter the bones, watching with a blank stare as the skeleton fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Reni?" he called, glancing around to try and get his bearings. He could hear more Stalfos hunting him in the fog.

"Link! Hurry… over here! Follow my voice!"

He spun around at her beckoning. She sounded so close. He barely had a chance to take a step towards his left when something gripped his shoulder from behind. He cried out and turned to swing his sword – until he heard her voice again.

"Link! It's me!"

Reni's face suddenly appeared in the fog. She was standing in the doorway of the sanctuary with Onyx and Renado both behind her. With a stern look she grabbed him by the collar and tugged him inside as Onyx slammed the door closed behind him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust again to the dim candlelight, and this time he found that they were only in the company of Renado, Luda, and Barnes.

"I'm glad to see that you have made it here safely," Renado said to them. He could read the single question running through each of their minds as they gazed at him with flustered expressions and creased brows. "Things are not as they were when you were last here. Unfortunately, this time I could not find the remaining villagers to provide any refuge for them." He turned to take a seat beside his daughter, who was sitting calmly at one of the window-seats as if she was merely waiting for a friend to come over to play. "I wish I knew the exact cause behind what is happening," he went on. "After the three of you left, a strange haze settled upon the village. At first it was only a minor nuisance, however by nightfall, it was so thick it began to confiscate our sense of direction as it completely blanketed the entire town. Shortly after, people were being attacked by some kind of skeletal creature lurking in the haze. I managed to hide here with Barnes and Luda before any of them found us."

Reni, Link and Onyx exchanged glances amongst each other. They knew all too well what exactly those creatures outside were. But how in the world did they end up here in Kakariko? And why?

"A lot has happened here since yesterday," Onyx remarked, crossing his arms as he looked up towards the window, although this time the shutters had been locked.

"No kidding," Barnes chimed in from his place across the room. He had a stick in his hand and was eyeing the single candle on the wall that was not lit. "As if those nasty black creatures weren't enough for us last year… We barely recovered from that and now we got walkin' skeletons out there waitin' to tear us all to shreds in that crazy fog! This is insane, Renado. What's next, man? We're doomed here!"

Renado raised an eyebrow in Barnes' direction and looked as if he wanted to reply, but instead he remained silent. His dark eyes met Link's sapphire blue. "I apologize for asking you to come to this town in its current condition, but I believe that sorcerer is responsible for this. His presence has not left Kakariko."

Reni's eyebrows shot up. "He's still here?"

Renado took in a deep breath, blinking slowly as if he was pondering something. "No," he eventually answered, "but he has left something behind."

"Yeah, all those zombies outside!" Barnes exclaimed.

Renado spoke over him. "The fog is most dense around the graveyard behind this sanctuary. It acts as if it is originating from somewhere in that area… or as if it is perhaps protecting something there."

That was all Link needed. Upon hearing those words, he gave the shaman a firm nod and turned to head towards the backdoor as he heard his new companions follow suit.

"Wait," Luda spoke at last, standing from her seat beside Renado. She was also holding a stick, and she held it out towards them. "If you're going out there, go with a flame. It doesn't do much, but it kind of dissipates the fog around you just enough to see a little better."

Link gave her a grateful smile and her gaze towards them wavered shyly as she returned to her seat. He saw Renado pat her on the knee before he turned to give Reni and Onyx meaningful looks, silently asking if they were ready to go. His hand reached out to grasp the knob of the backdoor. He could see faint purple tendrils snaking in beneath the door, but the soft light in the sanctuary appeared to keep the fog at bay for the most part. It almost seemed to have a mind of its own, he noted, as it seemed to try different strategies to gain access inside. It suddenly made him all too aware that even inside with the light no one was truly safe. Renado had spoken of the fog intensifying over time to become what it was now, but who was to say there wasn't more to come? Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the fog dominated the light.

With Luda's words fresh in his mind, he pushed the backdoor open and swiftly pulled out his lantern to watch the fog clear away from it like a swarm of Poison Mites. A strong bout of déjà vu struck him as he reminisced again on his time spent clearing a path through the strange mist in the Faron Woods. He made his steps light and said nothing as he forced all of his senses as far outward as he could, listening for any unwelcome guests and hoping he could lead them into the graveyard successfully. If only he could still manipulate the senses of a wolf.

A chill shot down Link's spine as he passed by the first tombstone. Being here in the graveyard had never really bothered him very much before, but now as his lantern cleared the fog enough to reveal the name inscribed on the round oversized stone, he shivered. He couldn't decide whether it was because of the rapid drop in temperature, or the heavy foreboding hanging in the atmosphere. This place seemed foreign to him now. There was no doubt in his mind that Renado's prediction was somehow correct. He could feel it.

"This is making me hate this place more than I already do," Onyx whispered faintly.

Link had heard him, but something was keeping his eyes locked onto the tombstone. He didn't respond.

"Link?" Reni murmured hesitantly. She saw her counterpart tense up. "…What is it?"

Something was wrong. Somehow Link knew something was about to happen. He took several steps backward, pushing the two behind him back as well. His lantern toppled to the ground, abandoned as he drew his sword and shield. The soil in front of them was moving, waving slowly like a lazy ocean. But then it erupted, sprouting an ivory skull as it rose from the dirt. The glowing, sunken eyes of a Stalfos bore into his own as it pulled itself out of the ground, weapon already in hand. He heard Reni gasp behind him and he lifted his eyes only for a moment to see two more Stalfos pull themselves out of the ground behind the first.

"They're everywhere," she proclaimed.

Link took another step back and glanced over his shoulder. An entire mob of Stalfos had risen up to greet them, hovering along the outside edges of the light cast by his fallen lantern. Link narrowed his eyes as he stared down the nearest Stalfos and his lips became a thin line. Fleeing had never been an option.

Nor was it an option now.

And his new comrades knew that as well.

His determined battle cry rang out into the thick atmosphere as his sword sliced through the violet haze, clanging against the skeleton's rusted shield. He silently cursed his opponent for being able to maneuver in the fog better than he could, but before he could strike again, Onyx's Ordon sword cut into the Stalfos' unprotected vertebrae and it pitched forward. Link took that opportunity to swing the Master Sword down upon it, shattering its pelvis. But he had no time to take pleasure in his victory as he turned to spot another Stalfos raising its sword behind Onyx. He shouted a warning as he shoved Onyx aside with his shield and chopped the skeleton down in one blow.

"Link, they're only multiplying!"

Link whirled around in time to see Reni executing a tight spin attack to take down three Stalfos at once, but as those three skeletons crumbled to the ground, four more rose up from the soil. He heard Onyx's sword slashing into bone again as he fought against a new wall of regenerated Stalfos. This wasn't working. Even with the three of them, they were painfully outnumbered. Link didn't have time to stop and think as more of their assailants turned onto him, shrieking with poised swords. With another stride backward he realized he had stepped outside of his lantern's glow, reminding him that he had left it behind. He needed it, otherwise he would be lost in the fog to become prey for the predators around him. He caught sight of it laying in the dirt as the bony feet of the army in front of him trampled over it.

"Link!"

Reni's voice seemed to come out of nowhere. In a flash he was doused in light again as his counterpart appeared at his side while fending off yet another Stalfos. At some point in their struggle she had lit her own lantern and left it hanging on her belt, and as Onyx appeared among them in the ring of light they continued to slash and tear into the masses before them. But as they did only more of them appeared, regenerating and multiplying themselves to create an even thicker multitude of coarse bones to drive the three young ones further into the graveyard.

Reni swung her sword for the nth time, losing count of how many Stalfos she had already beheaded. But still they closed in on them no matter how much damage was dealt, and she felt forced to take yet another step backward in order to keep standing her ground. But as her foot came to rest in the dirt again, her back pressed up against something hard and she stiffened, her head snapping around to discover they had been pressed all the way back up against an old stone staircase that appeared to lead up to higher ground. And perhaps – she squinted through the fog – safer ground?

Link's ears perked up at the sound of his name wafting above the shrieking and the hissing of the Stalfos before them. He and Onyx both shifted their eyes to find Reni dashing up the crumbled stairway they had been backed up against, wildly waving her shield at them in an attempt to beckon them to follow her. Onyx wasted no time rushing past him to dart up the stairs behind her, but as Link turned to do the same, the shrill screech of a looming Stalfos boomed in his left ear. Before he even laid eyes on his enemy he gritted his teeth and raised his sword to strike, but as he turned his head, bones of rotting ivory filled his vision. The raised hand of a skeleton without a sword came down on him, slashing into his face. Link bit his tongue as the claws dug into his skin, but he never faltered as he took the Master Sword's hilt in both hands once more, shoving the blade up inside the Stalfos' ribs until its tip shattered the sternum and lodged itself in the jaw. The hand fell from his face as the rest of the skeleton collapsed into pieces. He merely ignored the thin lines of blood trickling down the side of his face as he spun around to follow Onyx and Reni up the stairway.

"You okay?" Reni inquired with a frown, her blue eyes wide as they sized up the shallow gash that ran down the side of his face. He only gave her a dismissive nod.

"Why aren't they following us up here?" Onyx questioned as he watched the Stalfos gather towards them on the ground below, waving arms and swords to try and reach the teens from where they stood.

"The fog is clear from this spot, too," Reni observed. Her expression darkened even more. "I don't like this…"

And then she felt it. A familiar presence approached from behind them; she knew it all too well. She could hear it dragging its weapon as it shuffled towards them. Simultaneously, she stepped back and swung her sword to execute another spin attack without even looking, but she was a split second too late. The paralyzing scream tore into her eardrums before she could defend herself, nearly drawing her to her knees as her vision blurred horrendously, skewing her sense of balance. As the sound amplified in her mind she could only force her brain to loop on one thought: _Don't let it trap you, don't let it trap you, don't let it trap you… _

The moment the scream ceased, Reni commanded her leg muscles into action. She felt sickeningly dizzy as she curled herself into a ball to roll aside. She felt wind rush past her ear as a gigantic bandaged sword crashed down into the dirt where she had been paralyzed only a second ago. Her Master Sword met the mummy's thigh, cutting into its deadened body as it jerked its own sword out of the dirt, groaning angrily.

Though she did not belong in this dimension, she knew well enough to know that ReDead Knights did not belong here.

The clouds cleared from her mind. Nothing else mattered except putting this monster out of its misery. She shot backwards as she regained her bearings, her eyes locked onto the ReDead Knight as it turned to seek out another target.

"Reni, look out!" came Link's voice.

A blazing bomb arrow shot past her as she jumped aside, nestling itself right in the mummy's chest and shoving it several steps back as the bomb exploded on impact. The ReDead stumbled and nearly dropped its sword, but it did not fall. However, as she heard Link pull a second bomb arrow back in his bow, she spotted movement behind it. A second ReDead Knight rose up from the ground, moaning hypnotically. Her eyes never wavered as she exchanged her sword and shield for her bow and a bomb arrow. But as she aimed for the second ReDead, she belatedly realized that Link had never fired his second shot. The first ReDead was practically on top of her, taking in a deep breath to let out another agonizing scream as it raised its sword over its head. She gasped in alarm and whipped her bow around to plant her bomb arrow right into its torso. The force of the explosion disintegrated the mummy and its close proximity tossed Reni backward like a rag doll. She let out a pained shout as she landed hard on her backside, but she was back on her feet in seconds.

"Link?" she cried, perplexed at the Hero's failure to fire his second shot. But when she spun on her heel to face his direction, another gasp escaped her lips as she discovered a third ReDead Knight that had both Link and Onyx in the clutches of its paralyzing screech. Onyx had fallen to his knees, and her male counterpart had been frozen on the spot with his bomb arrow still positioned to shoot. She knew if he didn't fire it soon, it would detonate right in his already injured face. She would have to worry about the second ReDead behind her in a moment. Right now the lives of her friends mattered more than her own.

The string of her bow stretched out again as she aimed another bomb arrow at the bandaged chest of the screaming mummy that was holding her companions hostage. Closing one eye, she tried to focus on the precision of her target, which was in the middle of a narrow opening between Link's torso and Onyx's head. It had to be a perfect shot, or else she would surely harm one of them, if not both. Praying wordlessly, she fired.

The bomb arrow whistled in between Link and Onyx with only inches to spare, penetrating the ReDead Knight with perfect accuracy. Its shriek halted abruptly as it fell back from the impact, its sword flying out of its remains of a hand. Onyx clenched his head as he was released from his immobility; Link faltered and his knees nearly gave out as he lost his grip on his bomb arrow, launching it wildly into the air. It detonated in midair only a second later.

Confident that her comrades were okay, she pulled back another bomb arrow to end the mummy before it could capture them again. The arrow found its target without a hitch as the ReDead Knight fell to its death, its remnants sinking into the ground. As Link shook his head to regain his senses, she saw him spot the remaining ReDead and he drew another arrow as Onyx took his sword into his hand once more. Reni readied one more arrow and whirled around to expect the decayed creature to be at her heels, but much to her surprise it had not moved from its place in front of a large shade tree. There was no doubt that the mummy was aware of their presence, but it only stood its ground as it hissed and groaned in their direction.

She lowered her bow, puzzled. "What's it doing?" she wanted to know.

"It's like it's guarding something," Onyx deduced.

With his bomb arrow still pulled back, Link crept forward in front of Reni, glaring at the ReDead as he kept his aim pointed at its head. Its beady red eyes watched the Hero as he approached, but it did not attack. Link knew this tree well. It was a pleasant little shade tree that was home to a colony of golden ants, as well as a flock of guay. But as he charily drew closer, he began to examine the tree instead of the ReDead Knight that was seemingly guarding it.

The tree was as black as coal, but he noticed as he glanced up at its limbs that it was not dead. In fact, it looked just as alive as it ever did before, but the entire plant looked like someone had painted it that way from its roots all the way to its leaves. As he neared it something began to feel… very wrong.

The remaining ReDead Knight hissed at the Hero, pulling on its sword to gain momentum to swing it as it inhaled to unleash its stomach-turning scream. Link finally released his prepared bomb arrow as another one flew past him from behind. They both struck the mummy and it disintegrated immediately.

"This is crazy," Reni commented as she came up beside her twin Hero, bow still in hand. She cast a quick glance over towards the angry mob of Stalfos that were still trying to reach them from the ground below. "How are we going to get back into the village with all those things still down there?" She felt a soft tap on her shoulder and she looked over to see Onyx pointing at the tree that Link was studying once again. As the final ReDead Knight dissolved, the blackened tree began to secrete a strange violet glow, not unlike the fog that had gathered throughout the rest of Kakariko.

"What kind of tree is this?" Onyx demanded, wrinkling his nose at it.

"No, it wasn't always like this," Link told him. "It's changed."

The blonde emptied his hands of weaponry as he took the final step to stand in front of the tree, Reni and Onyx hanging back behind him. He had seen a lot of things in his journey fighting the Twilight, but he had never seen anything quite like this before. He found himself wishing again for Midna's company to shed a little light on things he didn't understand. He shut his eyes for a moment to clear his mind, but as he refocused on the tree before him, he found that it had changed. The violet fog-like glow that the tree had begun radiating wrapped itself tightly around the trunk, carving itself into the wood. Symbols appeared before his eyes like something was being spelled out for him. He stepped back in shock, watching as the entire trunk became a writing tablet at the hands of something invisible. He first thought of the markings of Twilight, but quickly realized that wasn't right. These symbols looked like actual letters, and he felt like he could almost read them. It was then when he discovered that the message was being composed in an upside-down Hylian alphabet.

"What in Din's name…" he heard Onyx mutter behind him.

Before Link could attempt to decipher the tree's message, two thick tendrils of purple haze shot out from the tree trunk like appendages, reaching for the Hero's face. Out of instinct, his Master Sword was out of its sheath in an instant and he slashed at the tendrils, but his blade passed through them as easily as air and the force wedged it right into the tree trunk. The tree itself suddenly began hissing, its very surface sizzling angrily. Link gasped and jumped back, losing his grip on the Master Sword as it protruded from the side of the trunk, and the three of them could only watch as the tree combusted with a crack into raging purple flames. Reni reached out to pull Link back further as the flames licked towards them, but in a flash the entire tree disintegrated much like the three ReDead Knights had only a few minutes ago. The fog that had been plaguing the graveyard and Kakariko all this time lifted and the sun began to warm the ground once more. The throng of Stalfos that had been swarming and thrashing around the stone stairway fell silent as they started to sink back into the dirt the same way they had emerged, leaving no traces of their presence behind. The atmosphere drifted into serenity as the air around them became calm and clear. Link, Reni and Onyx exchanged hesitant glances, trying to wrap their minds around what had just happened in the past few minutes. And as the smoke and dust before them settled where the tree had for so long been, they could make out the shape of Link's Master Sword laying on the ground, but when everything cleared completely they discovered that something was still clinging to the blade. Link waited until he was pretty sure everything had calmed down before he reached down to pick his sword up. Hanging onto his blade was a strange diamond-shaped stone that was as black as the tree had been. Purple symbols that matched the ones on the trunk adorned the stone's surface and were still glowing faintly, but it had been almost completely severed by the sword.

"Link," Reni breathed as she gazed at the stone from over the Hero's shoulder. "That was… inside the tree? That's… That's a Rihn Stone."

Link spun around to face the two behind him with raised eyebrows. Onyx looked mildly surprised, but Reni was incredibly alarmed. He urged her to elaborate with his eyes.

"Do you not recognize it?" Reni asked Link. "A Rihn Stone is a tool used by a small group of people that practice a really strong form of black magic called Rihn Magic. They're outcasts in Hyrule because they oppose the ways of the Golden Goddesses. Princess Adelina is trying to pass a law that prohibits the practice of Rihn Magic because of the potential dangers it poses."

Link looked down at the stone that was still hanging onto his blade. "So what does this thing do, and where did it come from?"

"I don't really know," Reni admitted, "but… if Menseki is manipulating Rihn Magic…" She shook her head. "That just makes us even more clueless about what he's capable of."

A slight humming sound suddenly reached Link's ears and he realized his sword was vibrating in his hand. He looked with a start to see that both sensations were emanating from the Rihn Stone at the end of his blade. Quickly, he spun away from Reni and Onyx and slammed the tip of his sword down into the ground, shattering the Rihn Stone into hundreds of pieces, each piece falling dark and silent and fading into nothing more than shards of a regular rock. There was no doubt that it was destroyed now.

"We have to stay on the lookout even more than before," Reni said as the three of them gazed down at the stone's remains. "Even though I don't know their exact function, I do know that Rihn Stones play a large role in the practice of Rihn Magic. He might have been planning something here."

Link took in a deep breath as he sheathed his sword. "We should make sure Renado keeps an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Let's go."

Wordlessly, the three of them began to make their way out of the graveyard, leaving the remnants of the Rihn Stone behind them and gratefully leaving behind the place that had been their Stalfos battleground. But as Link passed that initial tombstone where he had seen the first Stalfos rise up from the ground, Onyx suddenly stopped, his brown eyes fixed on the stone in horror.

Reni and Link both paused to glance back at him. "What is it, Onyx?" asked Reni.

Onyx didn't reply. He didn't move, or even blink. Instead, Link and Reni both shifted around to see the name that was inscribed on the tombstone, the name that had seemingly captured all of Onyx's attention. It was one of few tombstones in the graveyard that actually read little more than a name, a date of birth, and a date of death. Here, the one who lied beneath this tombstone had passed away several years ago, and had passed away at a very young age. The inscribed name only read, _Kyl_.

Reni's face had become very somber as she began to urge for Link to keep walking. "We'll wait for you out here, Onyx," she whispered.

Link gaped at her for a few moments as she walked off before he took several strides to catch up to her, glancing over his shoulder towards Onyx. "What happened?" he asked, bewildered.

Reni waited until they were beside the sanctuary's backdoors before she stopped to face him. "Onyx hates graveyards," she began. "When he used to live in Kakariko as a little kid, he had a best friend there. They were like brothers. But he died really young… Onyx didn't tell me how. His name was Kyl. He was buried in the graveyard at Kakariko and Onyx always avoided it to avoid seeing his name. Whether it's coincidence or not, I never thought I'd ever see Kyl's name here too. It's something that has always weighed heavy on Onyx's shoulders."

Link blinked in shock. He had never expected a story like that.

The sound of an opening door made them look up to see Renado and Luda both peering outside.

"Link," said Renado, "we saw that the fog had lifted and it seems that those strange creatures are gone as well. Did you find what you were looking for?"

Link nodded. He saw the shaman's dark eyes dart between the two of them and he knew he was searching for the third member of their party, but Renando did not voice his question. His eyes then paused on the gashes down Link's face, but again he did not question.

"Mr. Renado," said Reni, "we think you're right that Menseki was behind this. We don't know what happened, but please keep an eye out for anything else out of the ordinary. We don't know what he's up to."

"You have my word," Renado replied.

* * *

Link dropped down to his knees at the edge of the Eldin Spring, leaning forward to cup some of the water into his hands. He closed his eyes as he splashed it onto his face, letting it drip off of his nose and down his neck, but in the darkness behind his eyelids his mind automatically recalled the image of that one Stalfos slashing into his face and his eyes popped back open. This battle had been a strange one. He had indeed fought off Stalfos several times before, but never had he seen so many at once. Never had he seen them regenerate and multiply so aggressively. There was no doubt in his mind that everything that had happened here in Kakariko had something to do with that stone concealed in that tree, but that didn't lift the chilling sensation that coursed through him every time he thought about it. His perception of the graveyard was probably altered forever.

He had left Reni with Renado and Luda, quietly excusing himself to take a brief walk to gather his thoughts and try to process some of the things he had just witnessed. These past few days had been very weird and it seemed like they were only getting weirder. As he waited for Onyx to return from the graveyard, he wondered what the outcome of all this would eventually be.

He leaned forward a little further to catch sight of his reflection in the water, inspecting the side of his face that had been stinging angrily since the incident that was to blame. The Stalfos' claws had caught his skin at the top of his left cheek and had managed to leave behind two long gashes that trailed just beneath his ear and all the way down to the side of his neck. Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped quite some time ago and they didn't appear very deep, but regardless, it still hurt and it was an unpleasant reminder of their horribly uneven battle. He sighed again and splashed more water onto his face, trying to cleanse the gashes and wash away all of the dried blood. He didn't hear the approaching footsteps until they stopped beside him.

"You okay?" Reni wanted to know, kneeling down beside him.

The Hero only nodded, gingerly running his hand over the tender side of his face. He knew it was only a matter of time before the power of the Triforce helped it heal.

"How does it feel?"

Link gave a little shrug. "It hurts a little, but it'll be okay." He eyed his reflection again. "I was just trying to clean it up a little."

Reni's expression was soft as she gazed over at him. "Well, you did miss some… right at the collar of your shirt."

The Hero glanced over at her with raised eyebrows before hunching over to take another look at his reflection. "Where? I don't see it…"

Reni chuckled. "That's because you're leaning over, silly. Here…" She scooped up some water into her cupped hand and carefully reached out to him, pausing until he wordlessly gave her permission to proceed before rubbing off several smears of dried blood that had gathered on his neck where his skin came in contact with his clothes.

Link was quiet and had suddenly become incredibly shy as he waited for her to finish. "Thanks…" he murmured.

"Don't thank me," Reni replied, turning away from the direction of his face as she dipped her hands into the water. "I need to be thanking you."

Her remark provoked an inquisitive glance from the corner of his eye.

"Thanks for helping me and Onyx out and having our backs," she explained. "I know this whole thing originally wasn't even your problem. It was mine… until it got dragged here." She peeked over at his profile as he stared blankly into the water, intently listening to her words. The gashes down the side of his face added a level of harshness to his appearance that was almost unsettling to her. She quickly realized she was staring and she turned away, awkwardly clearing her throat. "You could've just left us alone, you know," she continued.

Link looked over to meet her eyes. "I'd never do that," he told her. "This is something we both gotta do. For your Hyrule and mine." Traces of a reassuring smile danced on his face.

She eyed him for a moment, but eventually mirrored his expression. He was right. There was no use in feeling responsible for bringing Menseki into this dimension. She had no control over it. But even so, the past was the past and they had to work together now to stop that sorcerer from getting his hands on both kingdoms.

And hopefully find a way to get her and Onyx home.

"Thanks for looking out for me, too." Link's quiet voice turned her attention outward again. "If it's okay… I'd like to go back to Ordon… just to make sure everyone is okay."

Reni gave him a smile and a nod as she stood up. "I'll just go get Onyx and we can be on our way." She was ready to get out of here anyway. Going back to Ordon Village sounded like a great idea to her. She only wished that the Ordon Village she knew wasn't so far away.


	7. Chapter 6

_Author Notes: Holy crap. I'm so sorry this chapter took so dang long. But here it is. Hopefully it was worth the wait! Awrp, Amethyst 269, Ginger Sheikah, and Dream Theme - thanks so much for the epic reviews. You have no idea how encouraging they are, even though this chapter took like a year to write! Sorry, but please enjoy and R&R!_

* * *

**What Lies Beyond**

Chapter 6

The ride back towards Ordon Village was quiet. Very quiet. Onyx hadn't spoken a word since they left Kakariko. Reni found him just like she had left him, standing like a statue in front of Kyl's tombstone, his hardened eyes staring blankly at the name inscribed in the stone. He did not look up when she placed a sympathetic hand on his arm; he only spoke of the overwhelmingly unpleasant shock to see his old friend's name in this dimension as well as their own. With that, he turned away sharply and stalked off, leaving her to follow in his wake. They met up with Link at the spring, who had already located both of their horses. Renado was there to see them off, though the words he spoke were few. He shook their hands as they prepared to depart, exchanged a few words with Link, and then left. Their travel then passed into silence.

With the reins firm in her grasp, Reni urged her horse to come up alongside Epona as they trekked through the vast plains of Hyrule Field. Link cast a quick smile in her direction, but otherwise kept most of his attention on the path before them. She found herself coveting him for being able to return to his home so easily. For him, the distance to Ordon Village was only a matter of miles. For her, she had no idea. She could only rely on the certainty that Menseki held the key to her dimension. There was no other way.

Her eyes eventually settled again onto the Hero's flesh wound with mild interest, wondering why the power of his Triforce had done nothing yet to speed up the healing process. Honestly, it looked just as dreadful as it did right after the incident, if not worse. Though she knew he had washed it in the spring water, it looked like it had bled again and the skin around it had begun turning purple and blue. Triforce or no Triforce, she was beginning to think that the shaman in Kakariko should have taken a look at it after all. She thought of Fleur, a middle-aged redhead who lived in the west end of her dimension of Ordon as the village's physician. She wondered if Fleur had a counterpart here that could help him. Buried in her thoughts, she dropped back to follow behind Epona as they crossed onto the narrow pathways that wound through the thick vegetation of Faron Woods.

"Can we stop here?" Link's request finally broke their prolonged silence as they passed the forest's quiet spring.

"What's wrong?" Reni inquired, pulling on the reins to halt her horse as her counterpart guided his mare right into the spring waters.

Link didn't reply. Instead he only slid off of his saddle, stirring a gentle splash in the water as his feet met the ground. Reni did the same, leaving a perplexed Onyx in the saddle behind her. She furrowed her brow as she watched him stoop over to scoop more water into his hands before splashing it onto his face just like he had at Eldin Spring. She approached him slowly as he took several deep breaths. "Link?"

"I'm fine," he told her without looking up. "Just feeling a little lightheaded…" He closed his eyes for a moment to steady his mind, running his hands over his face. But as he lowered them to dip them into the water once more, his eyes locked onto the traces of violet-red blood smeared across his fingers.

Reni frowned as she caught sight of his bloodied hand from over his shoulder. "What's going on?" she questioned.

He only shot a look of uncertainty in her direction, but she didn't catch it as what she saw instead nearly made her gasp. In a matter of minutes his skin had become ghostly white, a sickening contrast underneath the wound's purple discoloration. She took a step back in alarm.

"Link," she breathed, "your face… Something's wrong." She reached out towards him, but then pulled back. "Your skin is taking on the same glow as that Rihn Stone. Those creatures… must have passed something on to you."

Link eyed her for a moment before he hesitantly peered over into the crisp waters below. Even in his shimmering reflection he could see the ailing features of his face and he felt his stomach drop. Suddenly, he felt a bit squeamish.

"Maybe we should go back," Reni gave an abruptly stern proposition.

"What?" Onyx sputtered as he seemed to finally pull out of his brooding. "Back to Kakariko? What for?"

"Link needs a doctor!" Reni exclaimed crossly, whirling around to glare up at the dark-haired boy. "Can't you see him? Maybe we should go back and see that shaman. Or is there one up ahead?"

"Reni," Onyx objected, his voice tight, "we can't go back to Kakariko. Not now. Evening is about to fall. We wouldn't make it back there before dark."

"Onyx, don't be such a ninny," Reni retorted. "Link needs—"

"It's okay," Link spoke up, and his counterpart glanced over at him with raised eyebrows. "Let's just get back to my house. I think I have something there that can help."

"How far is it?" Reni inquired. "Link, those creatures in that graveyard were different than what we've seen before. They were conjured up by that Rihn Stone. Who knows what kind of black magic they possessed!"

Link pulled himself back into the saddle, fervently wishing he had never taken a look at himself. Sometimes ignorance was bliss. "Not far," he answered. "Let's just go."

* * *

By the time they cleared the pathway out of Ordon Woods, Link could barely keep his eyes open. It seemed to be all he could do to keep himself upright in the saddle as Epona came to an easy stop at the foot of the ladder of his house, the side of his face aching with a fierce pain that had begun to filter through his veins. He felt like he was dragging dead weight as he pulled himself off of his horse, his knees nearly buckling as he reached the ground. Reni and Onyx were at his side in an instant.

"Link, you look terrible," Reni remarked worriedly as he turned to climb up the ladder. "I sure hope whatever you think you have here really helps."

Her face was darkened with apprehension as she followed up behind him, the three of them finally arriving at the doorstep. Link reached out with a trembling hand to push the door open and they were swiftly welcomed by the still, cool air of his small home.

"All right, Link," Reni said, glancing towards the cabinets in his kitchenette, "where is the stuff you were talking about?"

He only managed to mumble things she couldn't understand, and as she turned to ask him for clarification she found him practically falling to his knees, sweat drenching his forehead as he tried to reach out for something to steady himself. Startled, Reni called out his name as she and Onyx both caught him before he met the ground.

In a haze almost like a dream, he vaguely felt himself being helped over to his bed to be partially propped up by pillows and blankets. He lost himself for a few moments in the thickness of his clouded mind, the two voices around him distant in his ears. It felt as if some kind of poison was trying to eat away at him from the inside out, pulling his consciousness away from the here and now as he lost touch with his surroundings… until he felt a damp, icy sensation upon his face.

"Tell me what you need and where it is."

Reni's request drifted through his mind, and little by little it brought him back to himself enough to formulate some kind of response.

"Blue potion… in the cabinet over the sink…"

He had a bottle of blue potion that he had never used during his journey battling the Twilight. Blue potion was generally a bit expensive, and he didn't always have a lot of money, so he had made sure to keep it stashed away in case of an emergency. Although he had no idea now whether it would really do any good or not, he definitely considered this to be an emergency, and he didn't know what else to do anyway.

The chill against his face disappeared as he heard more mumbling voices, this time accompanied by a lot of commotion in the distance. It seemed like hours passed before silence settled in once more, but before he could fall into delirium again, he felt the familiarity of a cold glass jar being pressed against his lips. The rush of a tepid, tasteless liquid followed soon after and he found enough of his wits to open his mouth and let it trickle down his throat. He drank in huge gulps until the bottle was gone, and that cold sensation returned to rest upon his forehead. And he waited, letting his mind float in the empty void between sleeping and awakening. At long last, the aching began to subside, and the voices that had been slurred background noise all this time finally began to resemble words. Slowly, he rose above the confusion in his mind, separating reality from imagination. He tentatively cracked open an eye, but promptly winced at the sensitivity to his home's dim light. It took him a moment to focus on Reni's face hovering over him as she sat beside him on the edge of the bed. He realized she had found one of his washcloths and doused it in cold water, holding it comfortingly against his face.

"Link?" she called, looking relieved. "Oh, there you are. Had me a little worried for a bit there."

The Hero only made a soft noise to acknowledge her, closing his eyes to shut out the light and attempt to steel himself from the oncoming headache biting at his temples.

"How are you feeling?" Reni wanted to know.

"W-what happened?" he muttered slowly, his voice thick. His whole body felt so heavy, like it was sinking into his bed.

"Reni was right," he heard Onyx speak up. "That creature affected you a lot more than we first thought."

"We kind of lost you for a minute there," the Heroine added. "We didn't really know whether blue potion was going to help any or not, but I'm sure glad you had some here." She glanced back at her companion who was standing behind her. "Onyx, go into the cabinet again and get him a glass of water," she instructed him. Onyx gave her a firm nod and turned away as she dabbed Link's forehead again with the washcloth. "I think it's working," she remarked, watching as color gradually flowed back into his pale face.

"Good," Link mumbled, eyes still closed, grateful for the coolness of the cloth against his feverishly warm skin.

Reni sighed as she gently pressed the washcloth against his mending wound that had thankfully begun to lose its revoltingly vibrant colors of purple and blue. "This could've been so much worse," she said. "Who knows what that creature had almost passed on to you! Nothing derived from Rihn Magic can be trusted."

Onyx returned with a glass of water, and only then did Link open his eyes to accept it appreciatively, downing it almost as fast as he had drank the blue potion. Onyx wordlessly lifted the glass from his hands once it was empty, and his eyes followed the dark-haired swordsman as he went to leave the glass in the sink with the dishes from Reni's breakfast that Link never had a chance to get to. With her last words resonating in his weary mind, the Hero's pensive eyes suddenly shifted to catch her gaze. Her ocean blue eyes only looked back to silently question the look on his face.

"What… what exactly do you know about this… Rihn Magic?" he inquired.

She only shook her head. "Not much," she admitted. "I don't really know how it works. I've just seen how it affects people and things around it. I just know it can change people." She heaved a long sigh and reached out again to rest the washcloth against the side of his face. "You should rest, Link. Give yourself a chance to recover. We'll talk later."

It was like she was reading his subconscious mind as his body begged him to close his eyes again. He wanted to protest; there were more important issues to attend to than resting. There was way more for him to know about this Rihn Magic that had almost gotten a hold on him, and somehow he was pretty sure that either Reni or Onyx knew more than what they were letting on. But his contemplations dissolved into darkness as the comfort his bed always brought him slowly melted away his apprehensions and blissful slumber overtook him.

* * *

He was running. Darkness pressed in against him from every direction and he needed desperately to escape it, but it only continued to follow him, to lead him, to hover over him, and to creep underneath him. He was stuck in place like he was only treading water. His eyes were wide open but he could see nothing. He ran as if the sacred beast inside of him had reawakened, his heated breaths the only thing ringing in his ears.

"**It is time!**"

A voice that sounded neither male nor female boomed all around him, piercing him as if it were speaking directly into his very soul. He was startled into silence only moments before he felt like he had just leapt off the edge of a cliff, suspending himself in midair, weightless…

And then he fell.

He wanted to scream as he plummeted deeper into the black unknown, but his voice was lost to him as a ruthless, frigid wind whipped furiously around his falling body. Faces of friends and loved ones flew by as if he was falling past them, each of their expressions frozen in shock and fear. He reached out, but nothing broke his fall.

"**It is time for the Chosen Hero to rise again! Rise again with the spirit of another at your side! Rise again with sword in hand, with the mind of a warrior and the instincts of the sacred beast! Make right what has become wrong! Open your mind to see what the eyes cannot!**"

A cry of horror erupted from his throat as the dirt ground came hurtling towards him. There was nothing he could do but cover his face with his hands and screw his eyes shut to brace for the impact.

"**Open your mind to see what the eyes cannot!**"

The ground turned to glass a mere second before he crashed on through, crying out through clenched teeth as the horrid sound assaulted his ears, the freshly shattered edges cutting through his tunic to reach his skin. His eyes shot open when he was supposed to feel the pain, but it never came. Instead he found himself standing in the graveyard at Kakariko Village, staring at that haunted shade tree, watching like some kind of intrigued spectator as symbols surfaced once again from beneath the tree bark. But this time they jumped right off of the trunk as soon as they were written and they danced around his head, taunting him. His mouth opened without his permission and he could hear himself speaking, but his voice was garbled like he was speaking words he couldn't understand, like he was reciting some kind of foreign mantra in a language he had never learned. His voice started off low, sounding a bit hesitant, but quickly it escalated until he was practically screaming at the top of his lungs. He clenched his fists in anger, and it was then when he realized he was holding something in his left hand as he bit down on his last word. His eyes immediately gravitated downward toward his extended hand and his gaze settled onto the Rihn Stone sitting firmly in his grip.

"**Make right what has become wrong!**"

His left hand burned fiercely as his Triforce symbol glowed so brightly it seared right through the leather covering it. His teeth were bared as he gripped the stone with all of his strength, feeling it beginning to crumble under the pressure. Pure white light leaked out through the cracks, slowly illuminating the entire stone.

"**Rise again with the spirit of another at your side!**"

A second hand appeared out of the darkness around him and gently laid itself upon his clenched left hand, also baring a Triforce symbol that was blazing just as brightly as his own. Instantly, the Rihn Stone he had been holding exploded in his face… and then it vanished, along with everything else around him.

A name formed on his lips as he drifted once again in the black abyss.

"Reni."

Then the pain came.

In a flash, it shot up from his left hand straight into his chest and he doubled over, choking out a gasp. But then he felt everything shift viciously as the black void around him swirled into the image of familiar scenery, and a horse's battle cry sobered his cloudy mind. The great Bridge of Eldin boldly stretched out before him, glowing in the eerie hue of the curtain of twilight that covered the Lanayru Province only a few miles away. And even from this distance he could hear the angry snorts and squeals of Lord Bullbo digging its hoof into the ground on the other side of the bridge. Its rider ordered it to charge and it came rushing across the bridge towards him.

Another whinny resonated in his ears as his own horse reared up onto its hind legs. He gasped and made a wild grab for the reins that were fluttering way past his reach, only to find that he was not even mounted on Epona, but instead mounted on a huge black steed. In his bewilderment he barely had time to grasp the stallion's neck as its front hooves kicked the air before it launched forward. In a matter of seconds he knew he would be meeting King Bulblin in the middle of the bridge.

He felt like he was drawing his sword in slow motion. The Bullbo was already on top of him before he even had a real chance. He saw the Bullbo's tusk jab right into the black steed's flank with an incredible force and his horse was practically stopped in its tracks as it pitched backwards. Inertia forced his head downwards and his forehead met the crest of the horse's flailing neck. In a haze he saw his steed topple dangerously close to the edge of the bridge before everything was ripped away from him with a surge of new pain.

Link was screaming as he awoke violently, sitting up in a flash as he frantically sought freedom from the blankets his body was twisted up in. Silence settled in around him as he tried to catch his breath, his dark blonde hair clinging to his clammy forehead in the fresh layer of cold sweat that had broken out on his skin. Onyx was standing at his bedside, his dark brown eyes round in concern as he looked frozen on the spot. Reni was kneeling on the floor beside him and breathing heavily, her eyes looking a little wild as they locked onto the Hero in a slightly alarmed expression. The mark on the back of his left hand pulsated with a lingering twinge as his eyes shifted back and forth between his two companions, remaining silent as he tried to even out his breathing.

"Link?" Reni called hesitantly after several moments of silence passed.

His eyes paused to linger with hers, but he said nothing. Both she and Onyx looked incredibly guilty.

"I'm sorry," his twin began, gradually regaining her composure. "I really didn't want to wake you but… I think you were having some dreadful nightmares…"

Nightmares? Link took in a slow breath, his gaze wavering for only a few moments as several abstract memories flashed through his mind. Everything had felt so real. Had it all really been nothing more than a nightmare? How long had he been out? And why did he feel pain?

"How are you feeling?" Reni's voice made him look up at her again. She looked more collected now as she rose up and drew closer to inspect his face. "You look better."

He felt fine, to be honest. His mind was clear and his strength had returned, but he only furrowed his brow at her as he watched her look him over.

The Heroine sighed. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "You were tossing and turning in your sleep really badly. I tried to wake you, but… you wouldn't wake up. I didn't know what to do… The only thing I could think of was to use the reaction of our Triforces to wake you." She looked a little sheepish as she spoke those last few words, but then almost as an afterthought she added, "You were saying really strange things."

"Like you were talking in another language," Onyx put in.

Perplexed, Link recalled the strange words that had spilled from his lips in the midst of his vivid nightmare. Had he perhaps spoken them out loud as well? "What was I saying?" he murmured more to himself than to the two beside him, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Sounded like Rihn chanting to me," Onyx replied. A sudden hush came over the room, and he looked up to find two pairs of blue eyes staring at him in mixtures of disbelief and surprise.

"How would you know that?" Reni inquired tersely.

Several moments of thick silence passed in between them as Onyx stared at her blankly. "Rihn chanting has a really distinctive sound," he finally answered after quite some time. "You don't really need to know that much to recognize it."

"But I don't know anything at all about Rihn to speak it," Link tried to emphasize. It didn't make sense. How could he speak a language he had never learned, or even heard of?

"That could very well have been a lingering side effect of the Rihn Magic as the last of it was running its course," Reni offered, looking as if she had just come up with that hypothesis. "The potion had to take time to heal. Rihn Magic is unpredictable in the eyes of people who don't practice it. Hopefully it's gone now."

Link processed her words slowly, considering it thoroughly. He supposed that could be true, but he fervently wished he at least had as much knowledge about Rihn Magic as Reni did. His ignorance towards it gave him a sense of unease that he hated. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to really trust anything until he better understood this strange dark magic, and eventually found himself wondering if the dark magic was what had kept the Triforce from healing him from the flesh wound that started this whole thing. He withdrew into his mind again as he reflected on the remaining wisps of his dream, little by little recalling each incident and trying to piece together the words that the booming voice had seemingly been attempting to embed in his brain. He vaguely registered Reni and Onyx discussing something or other as they left him alone to think, but he paid little attention to anything around him… until a faint sound from outside made his ears perk up and his eyes seek out the lone window in his house.

Reni took note of his alertness almost instantly and she cut off her conversation with Onyx at once. "What's the matter, Link?" she asked him.

He held up a hand. "Listen," was his only answer.

Reni and Onyx both complied, but everything around them was quiet. Reni opened her mouth to ask and be sure that Link wasn't hearing things, but she stopped short when she finally heard a wavering bleat coming from outside.

"Is that…" she paused, listening again until the bleating reached her ears a second time. "Is that… a goat I hear?"

Link kicked away the blankets that still hung on his feet and stood up, listening intently. His knees still trembled slightly as he walked, but he shook it off as he made his way towards the door with both Reni and Onyx in tow. As they gathered on Link's front porch they could see both of the horses gathered at the opposite end of the forest's clearing where the path led deeper into Ordon Village. Both of their heads were lowered and they were stomping the ground nervously, their ears and eyes pinned onto something the young teens couldn't quite see. Link anxiously made his way down the ladder, determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. He reached out to touch Epona in attempt to calm her as he spotted a baby goat sprawled out in the grass, bleating pitifully. It seemed as if it had practically drug itself all the way over here and collapsed because it had no more strength, its small eyes sunken in and looking dreadfully emaciated.

"This must be Yagi's kid," Link muttered with a frown, remembering the doe at the ranch that had been pregnant for the past several months.

"What's going on?" Onyx inquired as he and Reni came up behind Link.

"It's a sick goat," Reni noted, taking her horse's reins for a moment to urge him backwards and give them more room.

"This is really strange," Link remarked, kneeling down to get a closer look.

"Why strange?" Onyx asked with a faint shrug. "A sick goat isn't too alarming, is it? Where's the ranch? Looks like it just got loose."

Link glanced back at Onyx with slight agitation. "I've never seen one this sick before… or one wander this far out, either." It was true that escaping goats were not exactly a rarity in the village whenever Fado was tending to the ranch by himself, but he had never seen one wander this far, especially in this condition. Why had no one else in the village noticed? How did it wander this far from its mother anyway?

"Link is right," Reni agreed, "this is a little peculiar."

"I'm sure Fado is looking for him," said Link. "I need to get him back to the ranch." Thankful for the return of his strength, he bent down to gather the sick goat in his arms.

"Link?"

All three of the teens looked up to find a small, dark-haired boy standing only a few feet ahead of them in the pathway that led to the heart of the village. His hands were on his hips and he wore a rather vexed expression on his round face.

"Link, where have you been?" Talo demanded, both of his arms flailing in the air. "What did you do to that goat? Who are those people with you? Why does that girl look like you? Why did you leave Ordon again?"

"Talo—" Link tried to interrupt his barrage of questions.

"Since you've been gone, the whole village has gone crazy!" the boy cried. "Maybe if you hadn't left, it wouldn't have happened! Now everyone is all worried and freaking out!"

"Link, what is he talking about?" Reni frowned.

Link sighed. "Talo exaggerates sometimes," he muttered in reply. "It's probably nothing too big." With the goat resting snugly in his arms, he took several steps forward. "I gotta take this goat back to Fado, then I'll help you, Talo."

Talo looked absolutely appalled as Link, Reni and Onyx made their way past him towards the village, but he only stood and gaped as he watched them go. However, as they rounded the bend and made their way into the larger clearing that opened up to the rest of the village, a deep chilling sensation shot down the Hero's spine that nearly made him stop. Something wasn't right here. Having lived here in Ordon all of his life, he knew this place like the back of his hand. He knew the sights, the smells, the sounds… but somehow everything here seemed foreign to him as if he had never been here before.

Something was here. Something that didn't belong here.

Perhaps Talo was on to something after all.

The baby goat bleated feebly and he hugged it closer to his chest as it reminded him that he had a task to take care of first, and then he could go and make sure his village was safe. His mind immediately thought back to Menseki and he narrowed his eyes as he focused on the dirt trail that led through town up to the ranch.

_He better stay away from here if he knows what's good for him,_ he thought darkly.

The air itself seemed to have taken on a darker hue as the three of them made their way through the village. There didn't seem to be a soul in sight, not even Jaggle or Hanch who both seemed to spend more time outdoors than inside. Sera's shop didn't even look open, and not a sound could be heard in the village except for the old waterwheel that was churning murky water drawn up from the abnormally gushing river. A thick mass of deep gray clouds had rolled in, blocking out most of the light from the evening sun. The town almost looked deserted.

"Link," Reni murmured, her ocean blue eyes darting all around their dark surroundings. "I really don't remember your village looking like this when we were here last…"

"That's 'cause it didn't," he replied firmly.

She narrowed her eyes. "I think Menseki was here…"

Link's lips became a fine line at her words, but he said nothing. Reni eyed his profile as they crossed over the wooden bridge before the entrance to the ranch, but something drew her attention downward and she gasped.

"Link, look!" she cried.

Without hesitation, both Link and Onyx followed the direction of her pointed finger. They were still standing on the footbridge where the elevated water level threatened to dampen their feet as it splashed against the timber. Flowing past them, swept up in the current of the river were several greengills, their round eyes sunken in just like the baby goat's and their bodies revoltingly bloated. They were all dead.

Link stared, frozen for a moment in disgust and some kind of disturbing curiosity as he watched several fish carcasses glide beneath him. But then he pulled himself away from the sight and urged his two companions to carry on with him without offering them any kind of explanation or deduction to clear up their unsettling discovery. He just needed to get to the ranch. He needed to talk to Fado. Maybe he could shed some light on the situation. But as Link passed by Mayor Bo's dark, quiet house, he began to wonder if anyone would be manning the ranch at all, judging by the look and the silence of the town.

There was no cheerful baaing to greet them as they made their way up the gentle incline that led them up to Ordon Ranch. Link's gaze only settled on a vacant pasture as the three of them approached the closed gate. The blades of the shaggy field were pressed down into the ground in several places, looking as if she entire herd of goats had been laying down instead of grazing like they always did. The door to the barn was closed, but it was unclear from this distance whether it was locked or not.

"Where is everyone?" Onyx wondered as they stopped at the gate, eyeing its locked latch.

Cradling the baby goat protectively in one arm, Link easily looped his now-free hand through the gate and hooked it around the hanging padlock, blindly picking it with ease. In a matter of seconds, the lock fell to the long grass below. Just as he had thought. Fado never locked the gate all the way unless he was done herding for the day; it was a lazy habit the older boy had developed shortly after Link had started working for him. That had to mean that Fado was in the barn somewhere. Link hoped. Wordlessly, he motioned for Onyx and Reni to follow him.

"Fado?" Link called as soon as he was close enough to the barn to hear muffled bleating of the goats inside. "You in here?"

The barn door was not locked. In fact, it was propped open about an inch or two. Reni stepped ahead of Link to pull the door open wide enough for the three of them to pass through. It was dark inside, save for two lanterns that had been lit and were hanging on the wall on either side of the doorway. The goats in the stalls around them were making so much racket that Link was pretty sure he'd never be able to hear Fado's response above it. Every single one of them were lying flat on the ground, bleating as if they could do nothing more. Several of them were feebly kicking their hooves and digging their rounded horns into the dirt. Some weren't moving at all. There was an odd stench hanging in the air, overpowering the typical farm scents of hay or feed.

"Who's there?" a familiar voice finally emanated from somewhere in the depths of the stalls. A tall, brawny young man with a bit of a wild expression stepped out from inside the very last stall, his dark green eyes darting every which way until they finally focused on the small crowd standing in the open barn door. "Link!" he cried, rushing forward to meet them. "What a sight for sore eyes!"

"Fado, what's going on?" Link inquired. "What's going on with… everything?"

"Ya got me," Fado shrugged. He sighed, scratching the back of his neck as he glanced down at the baby goat nestled in the young Hero's arms. "You found the kid," he noted.

"All the way at my house," said Link. "Where's Yagi? How'd he manage to get out and so far away from her?"

"Yagi ain't doin' so well." Fado motioned towards one of the nearby stalls where a doe looked like it had collapsed into the hay beneath her. "They're all sick, Link. All of 'em. Don't know what to do 'bout it anymore. Can't stop it. Etzi and Toko are already gone…"

"What!" Link exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Got me," he said again. With another sigh he carefully took the young kid from Link's arms. "This one's probably a goner, too…" He seemed lost in his thoughts for a moment before he looked up at the three teens again. "The whole village has gone all cattywampus since you last left town, Link. It's like somethin' just came over everything. All the plants an' the livestock are dyin' like it's a plague or something. It ain't safe outside no more. Everyone's cooped up inside like hens 'cause we don't know what's goin' on. It's crazy."

Link felt a brief touch on his shoulder and glanced back to find a pair of stormy blue eyes that matched his own glaring up at him. For once he could read her thoughts without hesitation. The same thoughts that had been plaguing his mind since their arrival in the village were evident on her face as well. The events of Kakariko were still fresh in their mind, and the condition of Ordon only set them on edge even more.

Now Link knew he had been right. Menseki had done something to this village.

He suddenly had a strong urge to go make sure everyone else was all right.

"Do you need anything, Fado?" Link wanted to know.

Fado gave a vague shrug as he turned to carry the baby goat to the stall where his mother was laying very still. "Nothin' more can be done," he answered, "but thanks, bud."

Link gave him a nod before he turned to leave the barn. He respected the older boy, but he begged to differ. There was something more that could be done. Something _had_ to be done.

The three of them were quiet as they made the trek back through the pasture to head back into the village. But as soon as they set foot out of the ranch grounds, the sound of Link's name made his ears perk up and he lifted his gaze further up the trail to find Mayor Bo standing on the dirt trail in front of his house, his eyes wide as he watched them approach.

"I thought I heard you three pass by a little bit ago," Bo said to them. "Sure am glad to see you."

"Fado just told me what's been going on," Link replied.

"The village started goin' downhill shortly after you three left. It's like something's in the air. We shouldn't be outside for too long if we wanna keep our health and sanity." He sighed heavily as he pinched the bridge of his nose before he turned to Link. "You happen to have any blue potion you might be able to spare for Ilia? We don't have any more here at the house and no one's answering their doors."

"Wait, what for?" Link wanted to know, worry creasing his forehead at his best friend's name. "What's wrong with her?"

"I would've told you sooner, lad," Bo replied quickly, "but I had no idea where you'd gone to. She went out to play with the children this morning but came back home shortly after with a big scrape on her leg from playin' on the rocks and started complainin' that she wasn't feelin' well. Started actin' really strange shortly after. People started droppin' like flies after that."

"Father?"

Reni, Link, Onyx and Bo both turned back towards the house to see a blonde-haired girl standing in the doorway, leaning heavily against the wooden doorframe. Her skin was chalky white, which made the dark circles under her eyes stand out to the point where it was almost gruesome. The sour expression on her face only added to her unpleasant appearance as she scowled at them from where she stood.

"Ilia?" Bo called with an air of great surprise. "I'm surprised you're up," he said hesitantly. "You're looking… better."

"That's better?" Reni muttered under her breath. "I'd hate to see what she looked like before…"

Ilia was silent, but her shadowy green eyes shifted to pin themselves specifically on the Hero standing beside her father. She took a shaky step forward yet managed to maintain her balance, her expression unchanging as if it had been carved into a statue.

"Now, Ilia, you should stay inside," the mayor chided her gently. "We don't know if it's safe out here yet."

No answer. Instead she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders as if preparing to march courageously into a battlefield, and she began to make her way towards Link. "How long have you been here?" she inquired condescendingly, her voice thick and scratchy like she had been coughing.

"…Not long," Link answered slowly, eyeing her warily as she slowly drew closer to him. He took a step back to keep her from imposing on his personal space. "Are… are you sure you're feeling okay? You're acting… weird."

He half-expected her to take offense to his remark, but instead her icy glare flickered over to his female counterpart. "_She's_ still here?" she spat.

Onyx's wandering eyes snapped over towards Ilia at once as Reni's mouth promptly fell open for a quick comeback, but before she could utter a word Ilia turned back to Link, her pale lips barely more than a fine line. "This is _your _fault, Link," she declared, her hands balling up into fists at her sides as her eyes flashed. "It's your fault because you left the village with _her_. If you had just been here, this would have _never _happened! It's all your fault!"

Without warning, she jumped forward with a heated shout, both of her small hands clenching around Link's upper arms with surprising amounts of strength as her momentum forced him backwards and right off of his feet. He fell back onto the dirt trail with a hard _thud,_ her weight on top of him practically knocking the wind out of his lungs. Her face was only inches from his as she shook him vehemently. "Stay here and fix this now!" she screamed into his face. "I won't let her take you away again!"

Reni, Onyx and Bo were around him in an instant. "Ilia, please!" he heard the mayor exclaim. "Get off the poor boy! You're still unwell!"

"No!" she retorted. Her grip on his arms tightened.

Reni's hands lashed out in a flash, grabbing for the younger girl's shoulders to try and pry her off of her twin Hero. But the moment her fingers touched the beige fabric of the farm girl's tank top, Ilia's hand relinquished its death grip on Link's arm as her head whipped back over her shoulder for just a moment, her arm slicing through the village's muggy atmosphere and slapping Reni right across the face. Reni staggered back a few steps, nearly colliding with Onyx as her hand shot up to the abused area of her face, her ocean blue eyes raging with fury as they locked menacingly onto the girl who had assaulted her.

"You don't get away with that," she hissed as her muscles tensed to retaliate.

Ilia's free hand was already reaching for the ever-present brown purse hanging around her thigh. And as it reemerged from underneath the purse's worn flap, Reni's hardened eyes immediately fell onto the sight of a small dagger in her firm grasp. She froze in shock as she found herself face-to-face with the tip of the knife. Gasps rang out all around her, and she heard Bo shout Ilia's name in horror. Ilia said nothing, but the malevolent glare in her emerald eyes was wrestling with the repulsion in the eyes of the female Hero beside her. Onyx was silent as he took a swift step to intervene between his best friend and the weapon pointed at her, his hand gripping the hilt of the sheathed sword at his hip.

Link's mind and heart were both racing as he watched the exchange beneath the weight of Ilia's body. His brain was still trying to comprehend the sight of his best friend threatening his companions, let alone possessing any kind of weapon at all. Ilia was unwell, he knew. But there was more to it than that. There was something more. Everything about her was wrong. It was like she was an entirely different person. It was like she was… possessed.

Hastily, he tried to develop an escape that wouldn't involve hurting her. He couldn't even attempt to count how many creatures and beings had attacked him in the past, but none of those entities were in the form of a small village girl that had been his best friend nearly all of his life. Though he was incredibly skilled in fighting, those skills did not prove very useful in such close combat, especially not combat with a dear friend. He couldn't kick her off, toss her to the side or even draw his sword. He couldn't bear to hurt her, even though she seemed pretty intent on harming his companions if they came too close.

But he had to do something.

"Ilia—" he started.

Her green eyes pierced his as she turned to glare down at him once more, shifting more of her weight onto his chest as the dagger came down to find a place nestled lightly against his neck. Though he heard Bo cry out in complete dismay, it was a move he had hoped she would make. His arm that was no longer detained flew up and grabbed her wrist before she even blinked, forcing the knife away from his throat and slowly pushing her off of him. The hand that had still been holding his other arm captive finally let go to instinctively grab his wrist in attempt to break free from his clutch. In the midst of her struggle against him, she snarled furiously into his face, and that was when he saw it. Her clammy skin was aglow with a faint, violet hue that appeared to intensify rapidly. Her eyes were distant and glazed over as if they lacked the presence of a conscious mind behind them. A realization came over him as he recognized the slight familiarity of the sight and he spoke without even thinking.

"Rihn Magic!"

Onyx and Reni both appeared on either side of Link and they apprehended Ilia in her distraction, grabbing her by the shoulders to lift her off of him. She screamed as she kicked her feet at them and flailed her arms, but Onyx snatched the dagger out of her fingers as Reni pinned Ilia to the ground with more vigor than Link would have liked for her to exert. Link jumped up to his feet, his mind still reeling from his friend's behavior. Bo was shouting at her as she tried to fight against Reni's strength, but Link never heard a word he said as his sapphire eyes caught a view of the long scrape that peeked out from the bottom of her Capri pants and snaked all the way to her ankle. It was the most violent shades of blue and purple he had ever seen, yet he had seen it before. It had been there in the reflection of his face in the Faron Spring.

The Hero raised a hand to touch his healing wound and he took several steps away from the small group in front of him as they tried to pacify the wild village girl, who was putting up such a fight that she was on the verge of overpowering the two holding her down. His eyes were flitting around the village, searching for _something_. Something was missing out of all of this. He was being reminded more and more of the events that had unfolded in Kakariko Village; he remembered the cursed Stalfos that was responsible for his apparent close call with Rihn Magic. Her body was reacting the same way his had only a few hours ago, but this time there were no looming creatures hiding in a thick fog waiting to pounce. There was nothing. There had to be something.

His ears picked up on the sound of the pitter-patter of bare feet off in the distance and he whirled around to spot Talo's form running towards him from the direction of his house, his arms waving sporadically. As he watched the small boy dash along the surging river, he spotted a tall, black mass nearby that Talo passed without even acknowledging. He blinked a few times and then squinted in an attempt to see better. How had he missed it before?

He heard Ilia shriek his name. He knew he had no time to waste. If she was really cursed, then there was no telling what she was capable of.

With a quick glance over towards his comrades, he made a mad dash towards the black mass that he had discovered, passing Talo along the way who skidded to a stop and proceeded to yell at him for not saying hello. Talo was a bit of a noisy kid, but even this was slightly out of character for him. He prayed his instincts were right.

It was a boulder; a large rock beside the river that was just barely taller than he was and had a flat top that the children always loved to climb up onto. One side of it had always been covered in a thin layer of rich green moss, but now everything about it was completely black and it gave off a fervent glow of deep purple. He narrowed his eyes, glowering at the boulder as his mind rehashed the recent memory of that accursed tree in the Kakariko graveyard. Part of him felt like he was really going out on a limb here, but as he reached up to grip the hilt of the Master Sword, he hoped he would end up with the same result.

He let out a mighty shout as his sword sliced through the thick air, hurtling it towards the radiating boulder with all of his strength. The logical side of his brain braced himself for a brutal kickback from the blade bouncing off of the unforgiving stone, but instead the metal cleaved right into the rock like it was flesh. Thick clouds of purple fog surrounded him as the boulder imploded on itself before it burst into jagged pieces, careering in every direction. He shielded his face with his free arm as he stumbled backwards, nearly dropping his sword as he felt the chilly fog engulf him. He screwed his eyes shut, expecting some kind of impact, but then a hushed peace fell over the village, and the frigid air around him vanished. He waited a few moments before he opened his eyes to take in what had become of his surroundings.

He took in a deep breath to inhale fresh crisp air, tilting his head back to watch the hanging clouds dissipate to allow the warm amber rays of the setting sun to touch the deprived ground. Ilia's shouting and screaming had been hushed, and as he dropped his gaze to inspect the rubble at his feet he saw just what he had been hoping to see. The humming buzzed in his ears as he took the hilt of his sword in both hands and swung it downward like an axe, impaling the Rihn Stone that had begun to vibrate there in the grass. It shattered instantly upon impact, and then all was silent once again.

"Link!"

Reni's shout drew his attention back to his friends he had left just a short distance away. Swiftly he sheathed his sword and jogged back towards them, but he had only taken a few steps before he found Talo sprawled out face down on the ground, unmoving. A gasp escaped his lips as he dropped to his knees beside the younger boy, but when he looked towards Reni and Onyx he found that his counterpart's scuffle with his best friend had ended and Ilia had fallen limp as well. Reni and Onyx were looking around in bewilderment as Bo tried to awaken her again. At last, Link heard a faint groan as Talo started to move again. Sluggishly, he rolled onto his back and sat up, holding his head in his hand.

"Huh… Link?" he mumbled groggily, looking a bit dazed. "What… what am I doing out here? I... don't really remember…"

"Are you okay, Talo?" Link wanted to know, resting a comforting hand against the small boy's back.

"Uh… I think so," he replied slowly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Several pairs of footsteps made him glance over his shoulder to find Pergie heading towards him, Jaggle following close behind with Malo on his shoulders. Both of them looked incredibly spooked.

"Link, what happened?" Pergie inquired anxiously. "The hubby and I both blacked out for a few moments and when we came to, Talo was missing from the house… but everything out here looks like it's going back to normal." She picked Talo up from the ground in one swift motion and into her strong arms. "We were worried."

Link rose to his feet and only gave them a bit of a shrug. "I think it's over now, though," he said quietly.

Pergie gave him a warm smile. "Thanks for looking out for him, Link. These past few days have been a real nightmare."

Link gave her a nod in reply before he turned to join Reni and Onyx. They had both backed away from the unconscious Ilia to give her space as Bo tried ceaselessly to coax her to open her eyes again.

"She was fighting me off and she just… passed out," Reni told Link as he came to stand beside her.

The Hero looked over at her and waited until she turned her head to meet his stare. "It was Rihn Magic," he informed her. "I found the stone and destroyed it."

Reni said nothing as her expression tightened and she gazed back down at Ilia, but Link was pretty sure he heard her curse Menseki's name under her breath. The sound of that mad sorcerer's name made his blood boil. He would definitely pay for this. For all of this.

Ilia twitched faintly and Bo breathed a huge sigh of relief as her eyes fluttered open and took a few moments to focus on the faces hovering all around her. "Father?" she mumbled slowly, raising a shaky hand to rub her face. "What… what's going on? Why am I out here and why is everyone staring at me?"

Mayor Bo took her into a firm, yet gentle embrace. "Never mind about all that, Ilia," he said softly. "I'm just glad you're okay."

* * *

Ordon was never meant to be this quiet. Even now that the village's atmosphere had begun to recover after the effects of the Rihn Stone, it was still hauntingly quiet. Link had perched himself atop a boulder beside the largest portion of the river that flowed through town, his eyes staring out across the surface of the water that was gradually receding back to its usual level. People had stepped outside of their homes for the first time in days, several of them unable to remember the past few hours as they surveyed their environment, wondering what had happened to make all of the terrible things to go away. But then the village fell back into silence as the rest of the villagers turned in early, severely shaken up by the memories of the effects that single Rihn Stone had had on everyone and everything around here. His only ambiance now was the coursing river before him.

Epona nickered softly, nudging him in the shoulder. Link glanced up at the mare standing beside him and gave her a small smile as he reached out to pet her from where he sat. She had ambled into town from her place at Link's house and followed him here, contently keeping him company as she often did. She always seemed to sense when he was feeling troubled or sad, and in those times she stayed near him like a concerned friend who just wanted to make sure he was all right.

This one had been a little too close for comfort. Back when Twilight had blanketed Hyrule, the Ordona Province had been spared. However, it was true that the children had been kidnapped, and Link could not rest easy until he knew they were all safe, including Ilia. But the Province itself never knew of the true nightmares cast by the false Twilight King. He never had to see his own home covered in that morbidly dark mantle of shadows. But this... Menseki had been here. Right here in this village. His very home was suffering much like Kakariko had been. The poor villagers had been frightened to death. And then when Ilia had attacked him, and then threatened Reni as she acted under the influence of the Rihn Stone itself… that was what had really thrown him. But he had learned that Ilia had been hanging out with Colin on that accursed boulder where the stone had been concealed. They had been sitting on top of it, and when she climbed down from it she lost her footing and scraped her leg against the boulder's jagged edges. It had the same effect on her as the Stalfos did on him when it clawed into his face. Link wondered if he would have ended up possessed like her if they hadn't healed his wound as fast as they did.

He took in a sharp breath at the mental image his thoughts were conjuring and he forced his eyes shut, rubbing them with his fists. This brooding wasn't helping him at all. What was done was done, and everyone here was safe now. That was what mattered now. Then in the morning they could set off to find that madman and end this before more people got hurt. He didn't know how yet, but he would find a way.

A soft neigh stole his attention away from his thoughts and he looked up with a furrowed brow to find that it had come from the direction opposite Epona. Perplexed, he glanced over his shoulder in time to see a familiar black stallion curiously approaching him, both ears pointed forward in interest.

"Hey there," Link greeted the steed in mild surprise, reaching out to stroke his neck. "Didn't expect you out here." He watched as the stallion turned to give Epona a playful nudge. "I don't even know your name, boy…"

"His name is Rashadai."

Link spun around on the boulder, his eyes settling on Reni as she tentatively came up behind him.

She reached out to give her horse a few quick pats. "Sorry about him, Link. I was letting him wander but I didn't realize he'd come and bother you. He seems pretty interested in you and your mare. I can get him out of your hair."

Link gave a slight shrug, but before he could respond any further, Rashadai turned to nudge his hand eagerly until it was resting on his muzzle.

"He likes you," Reni laughed as she watched Link pet her steed with a grin. "He isn't that friendly with just anyone."

Link let his fingers graze across Rashadai's black fur before he gave a brief glance around their surroundings. "Where's Onyx?" he wanted to know.

"He is staying the night at the mayor's house again," she replied. "He offered to keep an eye on both the mayor and his daughter to make sure they were all right." They were both quiet for a while as she stood beside him and they both stared out across the river at the swirling colors of the fading twilight that reflected in the water. "I bet that was really weird for you," she spoke again after some time, her tone much softer than usual.

Link glanced over at her profile. Somehow he knew exactly what she was talking about. He nodded.

"It's hard seeing people you love suffer like that," she continued. "I know I don't live here but this is still my home, too, in a way."

"I'm sorry she attacked you like that," Link murmured.

Reni shrugged. "It's not your place to apologize for that," she told him. "And I understand that she was cursed…" The way she trailed off seemed to suggest that even though she understood, it did not change her apparent dislike towards the farm girl.

Silence passed in between them for several more minutes before Link finally slid down from his seat on the boulder. "I think what we need now is rest," he said, giving both of the horses a few pats as they looked over at him curiously. But then he paused and turned back to Reni, and when he saw the hesitant look on her face he realized that she did not have a place to sleep like he and Onyx did. "You can stay at my place again if you want," he offered quietly, his sapphire eyes wavering from her face as he spoke.

Reni did not answer immediately. "…You don't mind?" she finally asked.

He gave her a bit of a smile. "Of course not," he replied. "My friends are always welcome in my home."

Reni slowly mirrored his expression as she gave him a nod. She took Rashadai's reigns as Link did the same with Epona and she followed him back towards the clearing to his house. She still felt guilty for seeking shelter at his place; it was still strange for her to realize that although she was in Ordon, she had no house here. But she had nowhere else to go, and Link had already done more than enough to prove himself to be a worthy companion in her expedition to track Menseki down, so she felt as safe with him as she would with Onyx. And although this village was not what she physically called home, for now this had to be enough for her, and she had no choice but to accept it.


End file.
